How the new Steve Jobs used AI to amass $100bn

A friend of mine works for the tech company Nvidia in London. I won't say who he is or provide any detail that will identify him, because it's not fair. He's not a tech person and when he first went there, in a non-tech role, there was a certain bemusement and disinterest. "They make chips", he would say, almost shrugging apologetically. He didn’t seem to know what they did either.
It was a conversation stopper and we would change the subject and move on. Then, the tenor of the chat altered. He’d got some shares and he would say what the business was worth compared to the last time we met.
Even then, it seemed temporary and unreal. Yet, sure enough, on the next occasion he would quote a higher figure. Last time he was pinching himself. He was gleeful, shaking his head at the steepness of Nvidia’s upward market capitalisation curve, not believing his own good fortune.
Now the talk has shifted completely. Far from wondering what he is doing there, we find ourselves trying to hide our jealousy. We’re pleased for him, of course we are, but we would be lying if we said we’re not envious. He’s on the staff of the second-most valuable company in the world, worth more than $3 trillion (£2.3 trillion). He’s a shareholder in the firm which is on course to become the number one. It’s not a question of if, but when, Nvidia surpasses Microsoft.
Wall Street is on a tear, as they say in the US, where Nvidia is concerned. Investors cannot get enough of the company that makes microchip artificial intelligence processors, trading and operating AI systems, such as ChatGPT. As AI has taken off and is displaying its usefulness and hinting at what is likely to be undreamt of potential, so too has Nvidia. Someone investing $8,000 (£6,250) nine years ago is today sitting on a stake of $1.22m (£950,000).
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der June 08, 2024-Ausgabe von The Independent.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 9.500 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der June 08, 2024-Ausgabe von The Independent.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 9.500 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden

Israeli airstrikes kill dozens of Palestinians in Gaza Strip
Starving people also being shot while waiting for aid as locals fear Iran-Israel war has shifted focus from their catastrophe

Who is really to blame for miserable failures of HS27
Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, was determined to blame the Conservatives when she announced that what is left of the High Speed Two rail project will be delayed again.

City cruise to victory in Club World Cup opener
The late sending off of Rico Lewis marred a comfortable victory for Manchester City in their Club World Cup opener.

Food prices have risen again are supermarkets at fault?
No, say retail giants who point the finger at the chancellor's tax rises as food inflation jumps to 4.4 per cent. James Moore follows the supply chain to explain why we are paying more

Draper into quarter-finals after victory over Popyrin
When Jack Draper played at Queen's last year he was still something of an unfinished article.

Why Labour's bid to reform ECHR is freighted with risk
Shabana Mahmood has said the European Convention on Human Rights must be reformed to restore public confidence as Keir Starmer's government seeks to tackle the issue head-on.

Meditation, reading and three modest meals a day
Prison logs offer a glimpse into Aung San Suu Kyi's life

THE PACE RACE
James Anderson and Stuart Broad assess England's seamers ahead of 'era-defining' Tests against India and Australia

Two million more to get £150 winter fuel discount
Around 2 million more people will receive an automatic discount on their energy bills this winter as Labour confirms the expansion of an annual scheme.

Trump risks giving Tehran the final showdown it wants
In the feverish rhetoric of this new age of chaos, Donald Trump has upped the temperature dangerously close to delirium with a threat to kill the supreme leader of Iran - not yet, but maybe and Trump knows where he's hiding.