As Nvidia passes Apple's $3 trillion market cap, US antitrust scrutiny intensifies on AI chip maker

For years, Apple has held the crown as the most valuable company. The Cupertino tech giant was the first to reach a $1 trillion and $2 trillion market cap. But, as demands for AI infrastructure started surging in recent years, companies like Microsoft and Nvidia began challenging the iPhone makers as the most valuable US public companies.

Nvidia has now become yet another company to pass Apple’s numbers. The creators of the AI-friendly chip Nvidia H100 series are now the second most valuable company behind Microsoft, totaling $3.019 trillion as its shares rose by a total of 24% since its first-quarter earnings revealed a few weeks back in May.

It’s an impressive number indeed, considering how Nvidia has been dominating the AI and semiconductor markets, adding as much market cap in 6 months as the entire value of Amazon.

But that’s not without scrutiny. The New York Times exclusively reveals that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is set to investigate Nvidia for potential antitrust violations in the AI industry, while the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) takes on OpenAI and Microsoft, its number-one financial supporter.

Specifically, the FTC stated it is investigating whether OpenAI’s data collection practices have harmed consumers and whether Microsoft’s multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI and other companies has raised any issues.

Microsoft had first passed Apple’s numbers earlier this year, totaling $3 trillion in market cap, and became the most valuable company. The Redmond tech giant’s Copilot offerings, among its other forays into AI technology, have given them a strong financial result in the recently reported quarter.