ISTANBUL

US chip giant Nvidia hit a $5 trillion market capitalization on Wednesday, making it the first public company in history to reach the milestone.

The chipmaker's shares were up 5.1% as of 1340GMT, as the demand for artificial intelligence (AI) technologies grows.

Nvidia, this July, was also the first firm in history to reach the $4 trillion market value threshold.

Fueled by the AI boom, US stocks also hit record highs for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, with Apple and Microsoft both surpassing $4 trillion in market value.

The California-based business, founded in 1993, first crossed the $2 trillion threshold in February 2024 and then $3 trillion this June.

The most recent rise in price comes soon after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company expects to receive $500 billion in orders for AI chips and revealed plans to build seven new supercomputers for the US government.

In an announcement on Tuesday, Nvidia said it was acquiring a $1 billion stake in Nokia in order to establish a strategic alliance with the networking firm to develop 6G cellular technology.

Nvidia has benefited greatly from the rising demand for AI processors and gear, especially after the development of AI chatbots such as ChatGPT.