In the tech world, NVIDIA stands like a glittering citadel, boasting a market cap of over $1 trillion.

In 2021, when Beth Kindig wrote in Forbes that the company would surpass Apple’s valuation in five years or less, analysts guffawed.

Nvidia was half its size at the time.

Towering over it, with an almost mythical presence, Apple's colossal $2.5 trillion valuation cast a long shadow.

But today? Although Apple is edging toward $3 trillion…

The analysts aren’t so cocksure.

Whispers in the digital alleyways suggest that Nvidia is on the cusp of an unprecedented ascent.

They say Nvidia might just outshine Apple by seizing the future’s future—one dominated by the artificial intelligence economy, foreseen to pump a staggering $15 trillion into the GDP.

Consider that the mobile economy, which enriched titans like Apple, Google, and Facebook, had contributed a “mere” $4.4 trillion.

Of course, NVIDIA's flagship product is the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) that powers AI, gaming, and crypto.

It also boasts, as Kindig pointed out, two formidable barriers to entry: widespread developer engagement and the cloud driven by GPU power.

But that’s not all.

Nvidia also has yet another ace up its sleeve.

Enter the Omniverse

SIGGRAPH, held annually since the early 1970s, is a premier computer graphics conference by the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group.

The 2023 event in LA concludes today, with NVIDIA CEO, Jensen Huang, having delivered this week’s keynote.

During his 1.5 hour-long presentation, Huang spoke of the Omniverse, NVIDIA’s platform for connecting a whole bunch of software, designed for both simulation and collaboration.

Sounds boring, but it’s a big, big deal.

Omniverse is earmarked as a:

• Playground for AI to Learn
• Massive Factory for Mind-Blowing Virtual Worlds (Metaverse)
• Heavy Industry Prototyping Powerhouse
• Next-Level Internet

Huang said that the Omniverse is “going to be a new economy that is larger than our current economy.”

While many are still grappling with the implications of AI, Huang's tossing around predictions of a fresh revenue stream that could dwarf the world’s nearly $100 trillion GDP.

Probably something.

The Metaverse Meets AI

Many reckon the future of virtual reality, augmented reality, and the metaverse will play out like a choice between "Ready Player One" and "Star Trek."

Will we dive headfirst into digital wonderlands, or will they overlay our morning coffee?

It’s gotta’ be one of the two, says the prevailing thought leaders.

Maybe both!

The assumption here is that we would all participate in a unified simulation.

Omniverse challenges that traditional thinking.

Instead of one unified simulation, Omniverse envisions multiple simulations at the periphery that connect and share data.

Upon closer examination, this approach appears increasingly like the way forward.

In fact, some speculate that this will solve the “AI alignment problem” -- a huge area of research.

The grand aim is to create AI that gets human values, acts safely, and avoids harm, especially when faced with unclear or broad objectives.

By way of analogy, imagine AI as a supercharged, literal genie.

Ask for heaps of gold, and bam! The gold’s on your roof, crushing your house.

So, the real task? Training this genie to grasp our intentions, not just our words. That way, it assists without causing blunders. We need it to fulfill wishes thoughtfully, not just technically. As AI grows in power, it's vital it truly understands us to avoid major slip-ups.

Omniverse might just be the answer.

Picture this: Omniverse is a vast arcade filled with video games, each a distinct universe. Think Pac-Man to Mario – each in its unique bubble. Now, imagine if these game worlds could interact and swap information.

Before letting our super-literal genie wreak havoc in reality, we let it train in these “game worlds.”

Each one is a trial zone: make blunders, learn, refine.

Interestingly, Omniverse's decentralized simulation structure mirrors the insights of John Nash, the subject of the movie “A Beautiful Mind.”

Nash once envisioned a network of “electronic brains.”

“The idea,” he wrote, “is to decentralize control with several different control units capable of directing various simultaneous operations and interrelating them when appropriate.”

Hmm…

NVIDIA Wins

Think of Omniverse as the next-level internet -- a sprawling, shiny 3D metropolis crafted with the precision of AI and supercharged graphics -- with its own economy.

But it's not just for fun and games.

It’s also going to be a prototyping powerhouse.

Omniverse is also eyeing the mammoth $50 trillion heavy industry -- the steel producers, shipbuilders, miners, chemical plants, aerospace industry, and more -- aiming to bring them into the digital age.

So if you’re wondering who’s going to win the tech wars…

NVIDIA isn’t a terrible bet.