In 1907, US Steel was the most valuable company in America as steel was the core tech. In 1957, IBM was the king as the mainframe ran the show. By 1983, GE ruled. In the decade of 2010s, Apple and Microsoft took over as mobile Internet and apps defined markets. Today, this is Nvidia moment as AI infrastructure is the new steel: “Nvidia added another milestone to its meteoric rise on Wednesday, when its stock briefly pushed the company’s market value above $4 trillion during trading—making it the first company in history to achieve that valuation intraday.”

Congratulations Nvidia. The AI era is not hype; it is real. Yes, AI moment is not the same as the dotcom one because AI companies are generating revenue. As YCombinator recently noted, AI companies are the fastest growing companies on record, and the margins are the best. This implication is that our world is being redesigned and transformed. This a cambrian moment in the market and AI is powering that future.

Nvidia stands alone. The AI chipmaker became the first company to reach a market capitalization of $4 trillion on an intraday basis on Wednesday, before closing out the trading session slightly below that threshold. The world’s most valuable company surpassed Apple and LinkedIn parent Microsoft, which are the only other members of the $3 trillion club. Nvidia has ridden the AI boom to the top of the markets, making the chips that power large language models like ChatGPT. The 32-year-old company has seen the value of its shares surge fifteenfold in just the past five years.

OpenAI is preparing to take on one of the tech industry’s most entrenched monopolies—Google’s Chrome browser—with the imminent launch of its own AI-powered browser, three people familiar with the development told Reuters.

The browser, which could debut within weeks, is part of a broader move by OpenAI to expand its footprint far beyond conversational chatbots and into core consumer technology used daily by billions.

If successful, the launch could disrupt a critical pillar of Google’s dominance—user data acquisition—and threaten its lucrative advertising empire, which relies heavily on data harvested from Chrome’s more than 3 billion users worldwide.

OpenAI, which shook the tech world with the release of ChatGPT in 2022, is now pushing into more integrated digital experiences. According to the sources, its upcoming browser is built atop Chromium, the same open-source architecture used by Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, but is being custom-tailored to embed AI functionality into everyday browsing tasks. That includes an AI agent capable of carrying out actions on users’ behalf—such as filling out forms, booking reservations, or navigating content—directly on the websites themselves.

In effect, OpenAI is positioning the browser as more than just a traditional web tool. Instead of leading users from one link to another, it aims to keep interactions within a native AI chat interface, similar to ChatGPT, offering a fundamentally different approach to how people engage with the internet.

A Data War Brewing

By launching its own browser, OpenAI stands to tap directly into user behavior, the same stream of behavioral data that has helped Google build an advertising empire. Nearly three-quarters of Alphabet’s revenue comes from ads, much of it fueled by insights gathered through Chrome, which remains the default gateway for internet traffic and Google Search queries.

With more than 400 million weekly active ChatGPT users, OpenAI already has a strong base to convert. The integration of ChatGPT-style AI inside a native browser environment could dramatically increase user engagement, while simultaneously allowing OpenAI to access the kind of granular behavioral data previously only available to Google.

While OpenAI declined to comment on the development, sources said the company has opted to build the browser itself, rather than operate as a plugin within an existing browser. The decision, they added, gives OpenAI greater control over the data and user interface—key advantages as it races to stay ahead in the AI arms race.

The browser will also serve as a natural integration point for OpenAI’s “Operator,” an AI agent capable of executing digital tasks autonomously. With access to browser-level data, Operator could evolve into a full-fledged assistant managing entire workflows, from researching a topic to completing purchases or scheduling travel.

An Uphill Climb

However, OpenAI faces a formidable uphill climb. Chrome currently controls more than two-thirds of the global browser market, according to StatCounter. Apple’s Safari trails far behind with 16%, and other Chromium-based browsers like Opera and Microsoft Edge occupy smaller slivers of the market.

OpenAI is not the only player trying to reshape the browser. Perplexity recently launched its own AI browser called Comet. Brave and The Browser Company have also unveiled AI-infused tools designed to navigate or act on behalf of users. But OpenAI’s move may carry more weight given its existing user base and the momentum behind ChatGPT’s brand.

The browser push also follows OpenAI’s foray into hardware. In May, the company acquired AI startup “io,” founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, in a $6.5 billion deal. These moves signal a new phase for OpenAI as it seeks to build not just software tools, but entire ecosystems.

Adding to its firepower, OpenAI has brought in heavyweight talent from Google itself. Last year, it hired two longtime vice presidents from Google who were among the original architects of Chrome. The hires hint at long-term ambitions to build a Chrome rival from the inside out.

The Legal Overtones

The timing of OpenAI’s browser push could prove strategic. The U.S. Department of Justice is currently pursuing a major antitrust case against Google’s search dominance and has floated the possibility of breaking up parts of its empire, including divesting from Chrome. In a recent hearing, an OpenAI executive even testified that the company would be interested in acquiring Chrome if such a divestiture occurred.

For now, Google has resisted any move to sell and plans to appeal the monopoly ruling. But OpenAI appears to be preparing to challenge Google’s grip on internet navigation head-on—first with its own tools, and potentially later, with deeper ambitions.

The arrival of an OpenAI browser marks a pivotal moment in the AI era. If it gains traction, it could become the competition that Google needs to keep Chrome – as it might finally crack open Google’s once-impregnable dominance over the modern internet.

Perplexity AI on Wednesday unveiled Comet, a new AI-powered web browser aimed at reshaping how users interact with the internet and enterprise apps—marking the startup’s boldest step yet into the consumer tech space, as it squares off against giants like Google and Microsoft.

The browser, described by the company as an “intelligence amplifier,” is currently available only to Perplexity Max subscribers at $200 per month. An invite-only waitlist for broader access will gradually roll out this summer.

In a demo shared Wednesday, Comet demonstrated the ability to interact with enterprise tools like Slack, allowing users to pose complex questions via both voice and text, and receive instant answers powered by Perplexity’s AI system. Unlike traditional browsers that direct users to a search engine, Comet brings AI into the browsing layer itself—blurring the lines between exploration, assistance, and action.

“We built Comet to let the internet do what it has been begging to do: to amplify our intelligence,” the company said in a blog post, framing the browser as a next-generation tool for navigating both the open web and corporate platforms.

From Search Engine to Ecosystem

Perplexity made its name with an AI search engine that provides concise, citation-rich answers, distinguishing itself from ChatGPT and other large language model tools by focusing on real-time web results and attribution. That model came under scrutiny in 2023 when Perplexity was accused of lifting content from news organizations without permission or payment. The backlash prompted the company to introduce a revenue-sharing program for publishers, offering them a cut of revenue generated from their content.

Now, with Comet, Perplexity is expanding its offering to include a fully integrated browser, betting that users will pay a premium for a tool that fuses AI capabilities with real-time internet access and workplace productivity.

Growing Ambitions, Soaring Valuation

Wednesday’s launch comes just weeks after reports surfaced that Perplexity was in late-stage talks to raise $500 million at a valuation of $14 billion. The startup, still only a few years old, has attracted serious interest from major tech players: Meta reportedly approached Perplexity for an acquisition earlier this year, though those discussions did not result in a deal.

While Meta’s interest underpinned the strategic value of Perplexity’s AI infrastructure, the startup appears determined to chart its own course—and Comet is now at the center of that strategy.

The release of Comet coincides with growing activity in the AI browser space. OpenAI is preparing to launch its own browser in the coming weeks, aiming to challenge Google Chrome by integrating AI agents directly into the browsing experience. Others, like Brave and The Browser Company, have also launched tools that embed AI into how users search, read, and act on web content.

But Perplexity’s approach is different: Comet is not simply a smarter search bar. It’s being positioned as a hub for personal and professional productivity, leveraging AI to connect across platforms, carry out tasks, and deliver context-rich responses on demand.

In its launch announcement, the company hinted at future upgrades, saying: “We will continue to launch new features and functionality for Comet, improve experiences based on your feedback, and focus relentlessly—as we always have—on building accurate and trustworthy AI that fuels human curiosity.”

It’s too early to conclude whether Comet can compete against entrenched players like Chrome and Edge—or convince users to pay $200/month for an AI-native browser. But with its deep war chest, rising valuation, and expanding vision, Perplexity is no longer just a startup with a clever search engine. It’s now staking a claim to the future of the web itself.

Nvidia added another milestone to its meteoric rise on Wednesday, when its stock briefly pushed the company’s market value above $4 trillion during trading—making it the first company in history to achieve that valuation intraday.

Although it ended the day with a slightly lower market cap of $3.97 trillion, the surge reinforced Nvidia’s position as the world’s most valuable company, surpassing both Microsoft and Apple, which each crossed the $3 trillion mark earlier.

Founded in 1993, the California-based chipmaker is now riding a wave of unprecedented demand for the hardware that powers artificial intelligence systems, particularly the graphics processing units (GPUs) that run large language models like ChatGPT. Since the launch of OpenAI’s chatbot in late 2022, Nvidia has cemented itself as the backbone of the AI revolution, with demand for its chips outstripping supply for months.

The company’s share price has soared more than fifteenfold in five years, and over the last month alone it gained 15%, adding to a 22% increase year-to-date. The sharp rally reflects investor confidence that Nvidia will remain central to the next generation of computing—one driven not by personal computers, but by machines that understand, respond, and act on human language.

From $2 Trillion to $4 Trillion in Months

Nvidia’s trajectory is nothing short of historic. The company passed the $2 trillion threshold in February 2024 and hit the $3 trillion mark in June. Just weeks later, it crossed $4 trillion in trading—an achievement no other firm has accomplished.

Driving that momentum is Nvidia’s dominance in the AI hardware market. Its GPUs are regarded as the gold standard for training and running AI models, giving the company a virtual monopoly over high-performance AI chips. The H100 and newer Blackwell chip architectures are being deployed by virtually every major tech company—including one of Nvidia’s largest customers, Microsoft.

Navigating Headwinds

Nvidia’s rise has come amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and export curbs have stung the company, particularly restrictions on shipping advanced chips to China, one of its biggest markets. In May, CEO Jensen Huang acknowledged that U.S. export restrictions on the H20 chips designed for China would cost Nvidia up to $8 billion in lost sales, underscoring the stakes involved.

“The $50 billion China market is effectively closed to U.S. industry,” Huang said during the company’s earnings call, adding that being locked out of China would be a “tremendous loss” for Nvidia. Despite those obstacles, the company has recovered from earlier concerns that Chinese models like DeepSeek might reduce long-term demand for Nvidia’s chips.

‘Creating a New Industrial Revolution’

Commenting on the significance of Nvidia’s ascent, CNBC’s Jim Cramer, a longtime supporter of the company, called it the driving force of a new industrial revolution.

“Neither Microsoft nor Apple can claim that they’re currently creating a new industrial revolution, like Nvidia can,” Cramer said, suggesting that the era of the personal computer is giving way to the age of AI.

Cramer emphasized the broader implications of Nvidia’s AI dominance, predicting that the company’s technology would enable humanoid robots, self-driving vehicles, and potentially automate white-collar jobs.

“Every single computer with a GPU that’s not as good as Nvidia’s is obsolete,” he said.

He also framed Nvidia as a crucial geopolitical lever, calling it perhaps America’s strongest bargaining chip in its economic standoff with China. While China remains the U.S.’s largest manufacturing partner, Cramer said China needs Nvidia’s products more than the U.S. needs Chinese exports.

“Bottom line? Nvidia, own it, don’t trade it,” he added. “Oh, and see you at $5 trillion.”

The Road to $4 Trillion Valuation

With Nvidia’s AI hardware powering everything from cloud data centers to research labs and enterprise software tools, many analysts see even more growth on the horizon. The company’s influence over how AI systems are built and deployed makes it the central node in the AI supply chain.

While trade disputes and chip bans may continue to present headwinds, the foundational role Nvidia plays in the global AI economy—as both a tech vendor and a symbol of innovation—may prove too vital for countries and corporations alike to ignore.

However, market uncertainties cast doubt on whether Nvidia can sustain this breakneck pace. But with a market cap now flirting with $4 trillion, and a brand synonymous with the future of computing, it’s clear the company isn’t done yet.