Nvidia hits $5tn milestone as AI investment wave reshapes global tech

Nvidia’s meteoric rise—its stock has surged twelvefold since 2022—reflects investor confidence in the company’s central role in powering AI infrastructure across both public and private sectors. This surge mirrors broader patterns of deep investment in AI by firms including Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta, which together spent over $78 billion in a single quarter building AI data centres and capabilities.

Yet market reactions remain mixed. Alphabet’s strong AI-enhanced revenue lifted its share price, while Meta’s dropped amid concerns about the long-term return on its “super intelligence” vision. Microsoft’s AI-led cloud growth was met with more muted enthusiasm.

At the Fortune Global Forum in Riyadh, industry leaders framed the AI boom as the next major technological inflection point—comparable to the early internet or cloud eras. IBM’s Anna Paula Assis noted that while innovation is moving fast, many businesses are hesitant to invest for fear of making the wrong bets. Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat added that internal organisational change often lags behind rapid AI advances.

Supporting this view, an IBM survey of 3,500 executives across Europe, the Middle East and Africa found two-thirds reporting strong productivity gains from AI. In Saudi Arabia, adoption is even higher, with 84% of leaders confirming business benefits and 92% across the region expecting financial returns within two years.

In parallel, research labs continue to explore AI’s limitations. Anthropic has introduced limited self-monitoring in its Claude Opus 4 models, offering early steps toward greater transparency. But university-led studies still show that today’s AI systems lack the predictive and strategic depth of human cognition.

Despite uncertainty, economic fundamentals remain sound. US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stressed that unlike the dot-com bubble, today’s AI leaders are profitable and investing in real infrastructure, laying the groundwork for sustained growth.

Nvidia’s $5 trillion valuation symbolises this new era. It affirms soaring demand for AI infrastructure and reflects the growing consensus that AI represents a long-term industrial and economic shift. For the UK and other AI-ambitious nations, this is a pivotal moment—an opportunity to lead in responsible AI development and build enduring technological advantage.

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