Nvidia reveals new AI chip as value nears Apple and Microsoft

Nvidia has revealed a surprise new microchip to power artificial intelligence (AI) systems as its market capitalisation encroaches on the value of fellow tech giants Apple and Microsoft.

“Our next generation platform is called Rubin,” said Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s founder and chief executive, during the Computex conference in Taipei on Sunday.

It is set to come into production in 2026, although he did not go into further detail. The announcement gave a boost to tech indices overnight and sent Nvidia shares over three per cent higher in pre-market trading.

As well as Rubin, Huang also announced a Blackwell Ultra chip for 2025. He said the company’s “basic philosophy” is to upgrade its AI accelerators every year. “We push everything to technology limits,” Huang added.

The reveal came as a surprise to the market as Nvidia announced its new Blackwell chips less than three months ago, which it said will be the highest-performance on the market.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: “This move towards a speedier innovation cycle is designed to solidify Nvidia’s position as the leader in the AI chip business.

“It is also trying to move into the CPU business, a market dominated by Intel and AMD, and also into the AI PC business.”

It comes as Magnificent Seven stock’s market cap has hit $2.7t (£2.1t), fast approaching Apple’s $2.95t (£2.32t) and Microsoft’s $3.09t (£2.43t).

Nvidia shares soared over 28 per cent following its recent earnings update, in which it reported revenue growing 262 per cent. Over the past year, it has risen 180 per cent to hit almost $1.10 per share, making it the single-best-performing stock in the S&P 500.

Nvidia has forecast revenue of $28bn for the fiscal second quarter, surpassing analysts’ earlier estimates of $26.66bn.