Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang mentioned on Wednesday that the corporate’s benefit in synthetic intelligence chips was because of a wager it revamped 10 years in the past, centering on billions of {dollars} in AI funding and a group of hundreds of engineers.

Huang’s feedback got here in the course of the question-and-answer interval of Nvidia’s first shareholder assembly for the reason that firm’s inventory started to surge, after Wall Avenue’s heightened curiosity within the firm’s dominant place within the AI chip market.

Since final yr’s assembly, the corporate has been on a historic run: Nvidia’s inventory is up 193%, its shares cut up 10-1, the corporate handed a $3 trillion valuation and it briefly reached the standing of most beneficial firm within the U.S.

The primary query Huang answered Wednesday was concerning the firm’s competitors, as conventional chipmakers and startups alike launch merchandise meant to problem Nvidia’s greater than 80% market share in AI chips.

Nvidia shares fell greater than 1% in buying and selling on Wednesday.

With out naming opponents, Huang laid out the corporate’s general technique to take care of its place, main with the concept Nvidia has already “reworked” right into a data-center targeted firm from its earlier gaming focus. The corporate can also be trying to create new markets for its AI, comparable to in industrial robotics, and it goals to accomplice with each laptop maker and cloud supplier to take action.

Huang mentioned that its AI chips present the “lowest whole price of possession,” suggesting that whereas different chips could also be cheaper, Nvidia’s are extra economical contemplating their efficiency and value to run.

Finally, Huang mentioned Nvidia had achieved a “virtuous circle,” a time period within the know-how business that refers to when a platform has probably the most customers, which permits it to make the enhancements it wants to draw much more customers.

“The NVIDIA platform is broadly accessible by each main cloud supplier and laptop maker, creating a big and engaging set up base for builders and clients, which makes our platform extra useful to our clients,” Huang mentioned.

Nvidia shareholders have been happy with the corporate’s efficiency, and permitted a non-binding vote on government compensation referred to as “say on pay.” Nvidia executives are paid in a mixture of wage and varied sorts of restricted inventory items.

Huang obtained a compensation bundle price about $34 million in the course of the firm’s 2024 fiscal yr, a 60% improve since 2023, based on the corporate’s annual submitting.