Nvidia, the startup pivotal to the artificial intelligence surge, has ascended to the position of the world’s most valuable enterprise, replacing Microsoft.

The market valuation of Nvidia reached $3.335 trillion on Tuesday as shares of the chip manufacturer rose by 3.5 percent to $135.58.

This achievement follows closely on the heels of Nvidia surpassing Apple to secure the place of the second most valuable company globally.

Microsoft and Apple, occupying the second and third ranks, saw their shares decrease by 0.45 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

Nvidia’s remarkable performance has propelled the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices to unprecedented levels, fostering a significant winning streak for the company, whose GPUs are crucial for AI advancement.

Fueled by high demand for its chips from major tech players like Microsoft, Meta, and Google, Nvidia’s stock price has skyrocketed nearly 182 percent this year, after more than tripling in 2023.

Nvidia commands approximately 80 percent of the market for AI chips used in data centers essential for running AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Since its initial public offering in 1999, Nvidia’s share price has soared by an astonishing 591,078 percent.

An investor with $10,000 in the company in 1999 would now possess $59,107,800 worth of stock, according to the Kobeissi Letter newsletter on capital markets.

Nvidia initially devoted its efforts to creating chips for gaming applications.

However, in the 2000s, CEO Jensen Huang steered the company towards heavily investing in the development of GPUs for uses beyond gaming, preparing it to leverage the AI revolution.

The impressive ascent of the company has elevated Huang into one of the wealthiest individuals globally, with a net worth exceeding $117 billion, according to Forbes.