Nvidia has notched a market capitalisation of 4 trillion, making it the first public company in the world to reach the milestone and solidifying its position as one of Wall Street's most-favoured stocks. On Wednesday, shares of the leading chip designer rose as much as 2.5 percent to an all-time high of 164, benefiting from the continuing surge in demand for artificial intelligence technologies. The stock's recent rally comes despite a sluggish start to the year, when the emergence of a Chinese discount artificial intelligence model developed by DeepSeek shook confidence in stocks linked to the sector. Nvidia achieved a 1 trillion market value for the first time in June 2023 and tripled it in about a year, faster than Apple and Microsoft, the only other United States firms with a market value of more than 3 trillion. Microsoft is the second-biggest US company, with a market capitalisation of 3.75 trillion.

Chipmaker Nvidia became the first public company in history to scale a 4tn market value on Wednesday as its stock price continues a years-long stratospheric rise. Shares of the top chip designer rose roughly 2.4% to 164, benefiting from the ongoing surge in demand for artificial intelligence technologies. Nvidia's chips and associated software are considered world leaders for building artificial intelligence products. Nvidia achieved a 1tn market value for the first time back in June 2023 and the surge continued unabated with its market value – the total value of its shares – more than tripling in about a year, faster than Apple and Microsoft, the only other US firms with a market value of more than 3tn. Apple was the first company to reach a valuation of 3tn, back in 2022.

You summon an Uber car, create a digital calendar appointment that family members can see, or order a blender that Target's website shows is in stock.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has traditionally been deployed in the cloud, because AI algorithms crunch massive amounts of data and consume massive computing resources. But AI doesn't only live in the cloud. In many situations, AI-based data crunching and decisions need to be made locally, on devices that are close to the edge of the network. AI at the edge allows mission-critical and time-sensitive decisions to be made faster, more reliably and with greater security. The rush to push AI to the edge is being fueled by the rapid growth of smart devices at the edge of the network--smartphones, smart watches and sensors placed on machines and infrastructure.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has traditionally been deployed in the cloud, because AI algorithms crunch massive amounts of data and consume massive computing resources. But AI doesn't only live in the cloud. In many situations, AI-based data crunching and decisions need to be made locally, on devices that are close to the edge of the network. AI at the edge allows mission-critical and time-sensitive decisions to be made faster, more reliably and with greater security. The rush to push AI to the edge is being fueled by the rapid growth of smart devices at the edge of the network--smartphones, smart watches and sensors placed on machines and infrastructure.

IBM earned a record 9,100 U.S. patents in 2018, marking the 26th year in a row the Armonk, New York-based company has been the top recipient. Samsung was second with 5,850 patents while tech giants Apple and Microsoft also appeared in the top ten, according to a list compiled by research service IFI Claims. IBM's latest patent haul, which topped the 9,043 it received last year, includes a growing number of inventions related to artificial intelligence and quantum computing, which many people see as critical technologies of the future. Google, which came in at number seven on last year's list, did not crack the top ten patent recipients for 2018. Meanwhile, Apple rose to ninth from eleventh.

Yariella Coello, head of consultancy at data science and intelligent marketing company Profusion, discusses how tech companies can describe complex subjects like artificial intelligence to everyday consumers. Amazon has been making headlines again with the opening of concept store Amazon Go in Seattle. This follows hot on the heels of Google unveiling Google Home and Pixel, with Google Assistant as one of its selling points. Meanwhile, we've all got used to having the likes of Siri and Cortana in our pockets and on our laptops. What links all these entities is artificial intelligence (AI), but ask any average Joe on the street about this and they're more likely to bring up Humans or Westworld as a reference point. Ask them what they understand about machine learning and they're likely to draw a blank.

Amazon has long been at the forefront of innovation, with Amazon Prime Air, Amazon Echo and now Amazon Go all recent inventions. But where Amazon really leads the way is in its marketing and specifically how it manages to describe and sell complex technology like artificial intelligence (AI) to the public. General knowledge about AI is still low, with only 18% of consumers surveyed by Weber Shandwick feeling like they had a lot of knowledge about AI. This figure rose to 48% for those who felt that they had a little, but it's still a paltry figure given how much of our lives AI has now infiltrated. We've now got Siri and Cortana in our pockets and on our computers, Google Home and Amazon Echo is in our living rooms, and soon our roads will be filled with AI operating self-driving cars and Amazon Go-esque stores in our high streets.

Tech giants are hungry for artificial intelligence. In a race to create the best AI solutions in an increasingly hot sector, U.S. tech behemoths like Alphabet's Google and iPhone maker Apple have been quietly snapping up dozens of artificial intelligence companies over the last five years, according to a recent report from analysis firm CB Insights. The firm's data sheds new light on a trend that's been evolving for years. Nearly 140 private companies working to advance AI technology have been acquired since 2011, including 40 buyouts just this year, CB noted. From Google's Assistant to Apple's Siri; Microsoft's Cortana to Facebook chatbots, tech companies appear to be locked in a fierce competition to create autonomous technology that can understand users' needs, and provide information quickly and reliably, CB Insights noted.

Tech giants are hungry for artificial intelligence. In a race to create the best AI solutions in an increasingly hot sector, U.S. tech behemoths like Alphabet's Google and iPhone maker Apple have been quietly snapping up dozens of artificial intelligence companies over the last five years, according to a recent report from analysis firm CB Insights. The firm's data sheds new light on a trend that's been evolving for years. Nearly 140 private companies working to advance AI technology have been acquired since 2011, including 40 buyouts just this year, CB noted. From Google's Assistant to Apple's Siri; Microsoft's Cortana to Facebook chatbots, tech companies appear to be locked in a fierce competition to create autonomous technology that can understand users' needs, and provide information quickly and reliably, CB Insights noted.