Nvidia Sets Monthly Record with Unprecedented Market Value Surge in January 

A NVIDIA logo is shown at SIGGRAPH 2017 in Los Angeles, California, US, July 31, 2017. (Reuters)
A NVIDIA logo is shown at SIGGRAPH 2017 in Los Angeles, California, US, July 31, 2017. (Reuters)
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Nvidia Sets Monthly Record with Unprecedented Market Value Surge in January 

A NVIDIA logo is shown at SIGGRAPH 2017 in Los Angeles, California, US, July 31, 2017. (Reuters)
A NVIDIA logo is shown at SIGGRAPH 2017 in Los Angeles, California, US, July 31, 2017. (Reuters)

NVIDIA Corp experienced a record-breaking surge in market value in January, the largest monthly increase ever, driven by heightened optimism around artificial intelligence (AI), positive analyst projections, and the company's announcement of expanded AI offerings.

The world's most valuable chipmaker saw its market value expand by an unprecedented $296.52 billion to about $1.52 trillion, surpassing its previous high of $248.23 billion in gains seen in May 2023.

Last month, Nvidia's stock climbed to new heights following the announcement of new desktop graphics processors and advancements in AI-related components and software.

Meanwhile, Microsoft, the world's most valuable company, also enjoyed a robust increase in market value, adding $159.36 billion, largely attributed to the rising demand for its Azure cloud service.

The tech giant on Tuesday reported higher than estimated quarterly profit and revenue, although investors turned cautious about its rising costs that are expected to "increase materially" on a sequential basis.

As of Wednesday, Microsoft's market value stood at $2.95 trillion, outstripping Apple Inc's $2.85 trillion in market capital.

Meanwhile, Meta Platforms saw a strengthening in its market value last month, crossing back over the $1 trillion mark for the first time since September 2021.

Meta's stock surged over 14% to a record high $451 after the bell on Thursday, elevating its market capitalization by $148 billion to $1.16 trillion after the Facebook owner delivered a 25% jump in revenue to $40.1 billion for the December quarter and declared its first-ever dividend.

On the other end of the spectrum, Tesla Inc emerged as the weakest performer among the top 20 global companies by market cap, losing about 24.5% of its value over the last month due to concerns over slowing growth. CEO Elon Musk has cautioned that sales growth would be "notably lower" this year despite recent price reductions.



AI Cloud Provider SMC Plans Global Rollout

People attend a media tour of Sustainable Metal Cloud's Sustainable AI Factory in Singapore July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Caroline Chia/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
People attend a media tour of Sustainable Metal Cloud's Sustainable AI Factory in Singapore July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Caroline Chia/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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AI Cloud Provider SMC Plans Global Rollout

People attend a media tour of Sustainable Metal Cloud's Sustainable AI Factory in Singapore July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Caroline Chia/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
People attend a media tour of Sustainable Metal Cloud's Sustainable AI Factory in Singapore July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Caroline Chia/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Singapore-headquartered AI cloud provider Sustainable Metal Cloud (SMC) is planning to expand globally as its sees fast-growing demand for its energy saving technology, its CEO said on Thursday.

"Due to client demand, we’re looking to expand in EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa) and North America," CEO and co-founder Tim Rosenfield said, Reuters reported.

The startup, a partner of AI chip giant Nvidia, already operates what it calls "sustainable AI factories" in Australia and Singapore and is set to launch in India and Thailand.

Its clients in Singapore, where it operates over 1,200 of Nvidia's high-end H100 AI chips, include Facebook owner Meta who uses SMC's cloud to run its Llama 2 AI model.

While most data centres depend on air cooling technology, SMC uses immersion technology, submerging servers from Dell fitted with GPUs (graphics processing units) from Nvidia in a synthetic oil called polyalphaolefin to draw heat away faster.

The technology behind the approach reduces energy consumption by up to 50% compared to traditional air cooling, according to the CEO.

Demand for AI is expected to increase 10-fold compared with 2023, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The electricity consumption of data centres globally is expected to top 1,000 terawatt-hours in 2026, roughly equivalent to Japan's total annual consumption, the IEA said in March.

SMC is currently raising $400 million in equity and $550 million in debt according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

The company declined to comment. The fundraising was first reported by Bloomberg.