Illustration: Vincent Kilbride
How the AI Boom Created the Most Valuable Monopolies in History
Since ChatGPT arrived, Nvidia and its key manufacturing partners have dominated the market for AI chips. Will it last?
Every time you type a question into ChatGPT, you are, probably without knowing it, making several monopolies richer.
Actually, it’s no different if you use one of ChatGPT’s many competitors. Nearly all of them use chips from Nvidia Corp., which sells around 92% of the particular components — called artificial intelligence accelerators — that make chatbots function. Nvidia relies on a trio of partners to produce its semiconductors: South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and ASML Holding NV of the Netherlands. Each supplier has a market position almost as fortified as Nvidia’s, or even more so.