Nvidia's Market Cap Exceeds $5T Amid AI Surge; Powell Compares Boom to Dotcom Era
Key Takeaways
- Nvidia's market cap surpassed $5 trillion; CEO Huang dismisses AI bubble concerns.
- Microsoft spends $35B on AI; Meta reports $16B tax charge, increases AI spending.
- OpenAI releases gpt-oss-safeguard, open-weight safety reasoning models under the Apache 2.0 license.
- Character.AI to ban users under 18 starting November 25, 2025, due to safety concerns.
- Harvey, a legal AI startup, raised $150M at an $8B valuation.
Top Stories
Nvidia's market cap surpasses $5 trillion, driven by AI; CEO Huang discusses Blackwell chips.
On October 29, 2025, Nvidia's market capitalization hit $5 trillion for the first time, closing at $207.04, surpassing Germany's GDP, with CEO Jensen Huang dismissing AI bubble concerns. Nvidia's shares rose due to AI-fueled rally, and Huang announced $500 billion in AI chip bookings and plans for seven supercomputers for the U.S. government.
Jerome Powell: AI boom differs from dotcom bubble; Nvidia's market cap surpasses $5T.
On October 29, 2025, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stated that the current AI boom differs from the dotcom bubble, noting that AI companies have earnings and that AI investments are driving economic growth. Nvidia's market cap has surpassed $5 trillion due to its GPUs.
Microsoft spends $35B on AI, Azure cloud grows 40%, shares dip due to AI bubble concerns.
On October 29, 2025, Microsoft reported nearly $35 billion in capital spending on AI, surpassing market expectations, while its Azure cloud business grew by 40%. High spending caused a 3% dip in shares due to AI bubble concerns, despite total revenue rising 18% to $77.7 billion.
Meta reports $16B tax charge, plans increased AI spending, and focuses on AI talent.
On October 29, 2025, Meta Platforms reported a $16 billion tax charge in Q3, impacting profits, and announced increased capital expenditures for AI infrastructure in 2026. The company is investing heavily in AI, with employee compensation for AI talent being a major cost driver.
OpenAI releases gpt-oss-safeguard for open-weight safety reasoning models.
On October 29, 2025, OpenAI released gpt-oss-safeguard, a suite of open-weight safety reasoning models under the Apache 2.0 license. These models allow developers to apply custom policies at inference time for content classification and protection.
Character.AI to ban users under 18 due to child safety concerns.
Character.AI will ban users under 18 from its chatbots starting November 25, 2025, in response to child safety concerns and lawsuits. CEO Karandeep Anand stated the company is taking a bold step to better serve teen users and plans to establish an AI safety lab.
Harvey, legal AI startup, raises $150M at $8B valuation.
On October 29, 2025, Harvey, a legal AI startup, raised $150 million in its third 2025 funding round at an $8 billion valuation. The company provides tools to firms like A&O Shearman and funds like KKR.
AI Finance Disruption
Advantest Corp shares surge due to AI-related demand.
On October 29, 2025, Advantest Corp's shares surged to a record high after the company reported strong fiscal second-quarter earnings and increased its annual guidance, fueled by AI-related demand.
Flamingo raises $2.2M for AI-powered MSP automation.
On October 28, 2025, Miami-based startup Flamingo announced it has raised $2.2 million in pre-seed funding for its OpenFrame platform, which combines AI and open-source tools to automate operations for managed service providers (MSPs).
AI Geopolitics
Trump to discuss Nvidia's Blackwell AI chip with Xi Jinping.
On October 29, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he would discuss Nvidia's 'super-duper' Blackwell AI chip with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their upcoming meeting. This topic is a key point of contention in U.S.-China trade talks.
AI Innovation Spotlight
Palo Alto Networks launches Prisma AIRS 2.0 to secure AI innovation; Lakera launches 'backbone breaker benchmark'.
AI Music Frontier
UMG and Udio announce collaboration for a new commercial music creation platform.
On October 29, 2025, Universal Music Group (UMG) and Udio announced strategic agreements to collaborate on a new commercial music creation platform. UMG partners with Udio, an AI-powered music creation platform, for this venture.
AI Tech Today
Wolfe Research reiterates Outperform rating for NVIDIA, citing growth in the $500B AI chip market.
On October 28, 2025, Wolfe Research maintained its Outperform rating on NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA), with a $230 price target, highlighting significant growth potential in the $500 billion AI chip market.
Lucid partners with NVIDIA to accelerate autonomous vehicle development.
On October 28, 2025, Lucid's stock decreased despite the announcement of a collaboration with NVIDIA to accelerate the development of full autonomy in its vehicles. The collaboration aims to integrate NVIDIA's DRIVE AGX Thor computing platforms into Lucid's future midsize vehicles.
Emerald AI, NVIDIA, and others announce 96MW Aurora AI Factory in Virginia.
On October 29, 2025, Emerald AI collaborated with NVIDIA, EPRI, Digital Realty, and PJM to announce the 96MW Aurora AI Factory in Virginia, addressing energy constraints in the AI sector.
New Scientist reports on analogue computers for AI training.
On October 29, 2025, New Scientist reported on the development of analogue computers designed for AI training that could be up to 1000 times faster and more energy-efficient than digital computers.
KDDI to test AI robots for automated restocking in convenience stores.
KDDI will begin a demonstration experiment of AI robots for automated restocking in convenience stores from October 28, 2025. The robots will analyze shelf conditions, replenish products, and arrange product facings, with a goal to reduce Lawson store operations by 30% by fiscal year 2030.
Business AI Edge
Alphabet's Q3 earnings exceed estimates, Gemini app has 650M users, Google Cloud shows growth.
On October 29, 2025, Alphabet exceeded quarterly revenue estimates, reporting $102.35 billion, driven by strong advertising and cloud demand. Google's Gemini app had over 650 million monthly active users, and Google Cloud showed significant growth due to AI infrastructure and data analytics demand.
ServiceNow's Q3 earnings exceed expectations, AI platform to surpass $500M this year.
On October 29, 2025, ServiceNow reported Q3 earnings exceeding expectations, with adjusted earnings per share of $4.82 and revenue at $3.41 billion. The company's AI platform is projected to surpass $500 million this year and aims for $1 billion by 2026.
Los Angeles to deploy Google Workspace with Gemini for 27,500 employees.
On October 29, 2025, the City of Los Angeles announced its decision to deploy Google Workspace with Gemini for its 27,500 employees as part of its SmartLA 2028 digital transformation strategy.