By Yang Jianyong

When it comes to who's reaping the biggest profits in the era of AI large models, the answer is unequivocally NVIDIA, the ultimate beneficiary of this AI wave's super dividends.

Since the emergence of ChatGPT, artificial intelligence has witnessed astonishing growth. Large model services, in particular, have injected fresh vitality into innovation across various industries, thereby accelerating the digitalization process in countless sectors.

Against this backdrop, tech behemoths have ramped up their capital expenditures to bolster the competitiveness of their AI large models. The most notable examples are cloud service giants like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, which have embarked on a new cycle of capital expenditures in AI infrastructure, with a projected total investment of 700 billion USD by 2026.

Cloud vendors are splurging billions of USD to snap up NVIDIA's high-performance chips, resulting in a supply crunch and transforming these chips into scarce commodities. This has fueled sustained and rapid revenue growth for NVIDIA, positioning it as the most profitable tech company on a global scale.

In the first quarter of fiscal year 2027 (ending April 26, 2026), NVIDIA's revenue once again soared to a record high of 81.6 billion USD, marking an 85% year-on-year increase. Its net profit skyrocketed to 58.3 billion USD (approximately 396.6 billion RMB), representing a 211% year-on-year surge, with a remarkable net profit margin of 71.5%. Such profitability is unparalleled.

Notably, in response to the relentless surge in demand for AI chips in the market, NVIDIA anticipates its second-quarter revenue to hit 91 billion USD, continuing to exhibit robust growth momentum and full confidence in achieving its ambitious goal of one trillion USD in revenue.

It's safe to say that in the global artificial intelligence data center sector, NVIDIA reigns supreme. Data estimates indicate that NVIDIA commands over 80% of the market share in AI data centers, with some estimates even reaching as high as 90%.

This market dominance underscores the fact that training models across industries are heavily reliant on NVIDIA's high-performance chips. It's no exaggeration to state that the strength of an AI large model hinges on the number of NVIDIA chips it possesses.

Although tech giants have been striving to diversify their chip supplies, particularly by ramping up their self-developed chips, such as Google's TPU chips, Amazon Web Services' Tranium chips, and Alibaba's Pingtouge Zhenwu chips, large cloud vendors still hope to diminish their reliance on NVIDIA through these self-developed alternatives.

However, in reality, they still cannot sidestep NVIDIA. Hyperscale cloud service providers, in particular, account for 50% of NVIDIA's data center revenue. In the first quarter, NVIDIA's revenue from data centers surged to 75.2 billion USD, marking a 92% year-on-year increase. Its Blackwell chips have been fully embraced by major hyperscale tech companies and cloud service providers, with Microsoft, Google, and other hyperscale cloud service providers being the biggest buyers.

Tech giants are locked in a fierce competition for AI computing power, and the demand for AI infrastructure continues to outstrip expectations, leading to sustained and uninterrupted increases in investment in the artificial intelligence sector in the coming years. NVIDIA projects that global artificial intelligence expenditure will reach 3 to 4 trillion USD, representing a colossal AI feast for NVIDIA. This is also the confidence underpinning NVIDIA's goal of one trillion USD in revenue.

It's crucial to note that in the global AI chip market and the global artificial intelligence data center sector, NVIDIA holds a firm grip, primarily thanks to the high performance of its chips and the CUDA ecosystem. This positions NVIDIA as the dominant player in the global AI data center chip market and the biggest winner of the AI wave. In essence, it's a capital miracle, as NVIDIA becomes the first company globally to surpass a market capitalization of 5 trillion USD.

Currently, NVIDIA's market capitalization stands at 5.41 trillion USD (approximately 36.8 trillion RMB). If we compare this figure to the GDPs of various countries, NVIDIA's market capitalization surpasses that of Germany as a whole (5 trillion USD), ranking third globally after the United States and China.

NVIDIA's market capitalization, soaring from 1 trillion to 5 trillion USD, is a miracle unprecedented in business history. Few could have predicted that GPU chips, originally designed for gaming, would now emerge as the core force driving global technological development, reshaping not only the global semiconductor industry landscape but also the global tech landscape. The computing demand for NVIDIA's GPUs has exploded, prompting tech giants to expand their cooperation with NVIDIA to ensure their competitiveness in the artificial intelligence era.

Yang Jianyong, a contributor to Forbes China, expresses views that represent solely his personal opinions. He is committed to providing in-depth interpretations of cutting-edge technologies such as AI large models, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, and smart hardware.