Nvidia didn't simply have a great year, but rather another significant one. The firm surpassed a market valuation of $5 trillion, a success that earlier would have been considered more or less impossible for the "little chipmaker that could." The $5 trillion mark not only shows the power of its prime business but also indicates the major change in people's expectations.

This actually implies that Nvidia's power has moved beyond just its GPUs. It is getting into the very basis of computing, i.e., the networks that tie together millions of processors to form a single entity.

GPU Demand Continues… But Something Bigger Is Happening

At its heart, Nvidia remains a GPU company. High-end graphics processing units, designed for AI training and inference, have dominated headlines and driven massive demand. Yet there’s an under-the-radar force at work: the company’s networking business. That segment is increasingly proving to be a major growth driver, not just a side show.

For instance, analysts noted that “networking was a record bright spot… with revenue almost doubling year-over-year” thanks in part to products like Spectrum-X Ethernet, InfiniBand, and NVLink systems.

2025: The Year of Networking for Nvidia

Nvidia’s messaging has changed. During events like COMPUTEX 2025, CEO Jensen Huang described AI infrastructure as an “AI factory” rather than a traditional data centre. That factory-metaphor places networks at the centre, not just the bricks of hardware.

In one analysis, the networking business alone reached a run-rate of more than $10 billion annually, through Spectrum-X and other technologies, signalling that connecting all those GPUs matters just as much as the GPUs themselves.

Why Networking Matters More Than You Think

Imagine the fastest, most powerful GPU in a vacuum. It’s impressive, but if it sits alone, isolated from other GPUs and data centres, its potential goes untapped. Nvidia recognises this. The shift is from discrete chips to massive interconnected systems.

Their roadmap covers Ethernet-based interconnects, InfiniBand upgrades, and co-packaged optics, all to support massive scale-out AI workloads.

The key takeaway: Networks are no longer just plumbing. They are the platform on which future AI is built.

So… Where Does This End?

No one knows exactly. But what is clear: the journey isn’t slowing. Nvidia has moved from supplying GPUs to offering entire infrastructure stacks, compute, interconnect, networking, and even quantum-GPU link ideas.

What this really means is that Nvidia is now staking its future on its ability to knit together large-scale systems. The focus has shifted from “how many chips can we sell” to “how many systems can we build that function as one”.

If you ask me, the company seems less concerned with the next GPU launch, and more focused on making sure those GPUs talk to each other, efficiently, globally, and at scale. And that may be where the true inflection lies.

In short: Nvidia has crossed a remarkable valuation threshold, but what really stands out is its evolution. It started as a GPU powerhouse. Now it claims networking, connectivity, and systems as part of its growth narrative. And that is what makes this year particularly significant.