Nvidia, the world's leading graphics processing unit (GPU) manufacturer, has been breaking its own records in technological innovation and market share.
However, in June, an event occurred that greatly disappointed the tech company: the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice suddenly launched an antitrust investigation into Nvidia.
This was followed by a sharp drop in stock prices, with the company's market value evaporating by 250 billion yuan overnight.
The founder, Jen-Hsun Huang, has always dreamed of becoming the world's richest man, but now it seems that this dream may be put on hold.
What exactly happened?
Let's continue to look down!
Advertisement
I.
How did Nvidia rise to prominence?
Nvidia was co-founded by Jen-Hsun Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem.
In 1999, Nvidia launched its first GPU chip, the GeForce 256, which marked a revolutionary advancement in computer graphics technology.
In 2006, Nvidia released the CUDA architecture, allowing GPUs to be used not only for graphics processing but also for general computing, accelerating the research process of artificial intelligence and deep learning.
Entering the 21st century, Nvidia's pace of innovation has not slowed down.
In 2016, Nvidia launched the world's first deep learning supercomputer, DGX-1, instantly enhancing AI computing power.
In 2020, Nvidia acquired the network chip company Mellanox, further consolidating its position in the data center market.
In 2022, OpenAI's ChatGPT used Nvidia's HGX A100 GPU, and since then, Nvidia's leadership position in the AI field has also been revealed.
Therefore, Nvidia's stock price has also risen significantly in recent years as expected.
In 2023, Nvidia's market value broke through 3 trillion US dollars, once leaving Apple behind.
The stock price doubled in this year, with the market value increasing by 1 trillion US dollars, setting an astonishing record.
II.
Sudden investigation, falling from grace Just as Nvidia was reaching an unprecedented market peak, a sudden investigation plunged the tech giant into trouble.
The U.S. federal regulatory agency launched an antitrust investigation into Nvidia.
It is said that Nvidia's share in the global AI chip market has exceeded 80%, and such monopolistic behavior in the United States will definitely be severely punished.
When the news was just released, Nvidia faced a sharp drop in stock prices, with the market value evaporating by 35.5 billion US dollars, equivalent to 257 billion yuan.
This drop in stock prices can be said to make Jen-Hsun Huang's dream of becoming the world's richest man even more difficult to achieve.
The impact of this investigation on Nvidia is multifaceted.
On the one hand, Nvidia's monopolistic position in the AI chip market does need to be reviewed and regulated, but on the other hand, the importance of Nvidia in AI technology and the market cannot be ignored.
U.S. technology companies are highly dependent on Nvidia's AI chips, and any major punishment against Nvidia may have a negative impact on the progress of AI technology in the United States.
Therefore, the final result of this investigation still needs further observation.
However, based on past experience, the United States is never soft when facing monopolistic enterprises.
III.
How has the United States dealt with antitrust in the past?
In the United States, there is a very famous case of the United States v. Microsoft.
At that time, it was because Microsoft bundled its IE browser with the Windows operating system, a strategy that severely suppressed the Netscape browser, which had a market share of 90% at the time, constituting unfair competition.
In the end, the initial trial result of the Microsoft case once required Microsoft to split into two companies, but due to political changes after the 2000 U.S. election, the Republican Party came to power, and Microsoft reached a settlement with the Department of Justice, avoiding the fate of being split.
However, Google was later accused of using the monopoly position of the Android operating system to require manufacturers to set it as the default search engine, which also constitutes unfair competition.
But AT&T in 1984 was not so lucky, as it was split into eight small companies due to monopoly.
In recent years, tech giants such as Facebook, Amazon, and Apple have also been investigated and punished for antitrust issues.
Looking back at Nvidia, it has independently developed AI chips, invested in more than 20 AI companies, and built a huge AI network model.
Its CUDA technology has achieved the monopolistic production of AI chips.
In 2023, Nvidia's GPU chip shipments reached 30.34 million pieces, while AMD only accounts for 22% of Nvidia's market share.
So, Nvidia after the investigation is also likely to face the possibility of being split!
Conclusion Although this investigation has evaporated 250 billion yuan of Nvidia's market value, Nvidia's technological advantages and market position in the AI field are still unshakable.
With the continuous prosperity of the AI industry, Nvidia is still expected to create brilliance in technological innovation and market expansion.
Although Jen-Hsun Huang's dream of becoming the world's richest man has been temporarily frustrated, the future of Nvidia is still full of hope.