Nvidia Becomes First $5 Trillion Company
4IR - Daily AI News
Welcome back to 4IR. Here’s the top stories from last week:
Nvidia becomes first $5 trillion company---then Wall Street starts asking questions - Jensen Huang’s chip empire hits a milestone no company has ever reached, announcing $500 billion in future orders while tech stocks tank on fears the AI boom might be a bubble
Studio Ghibli tells OpenAI to stop stealing their art for Sora 2 - Japan’s biggest entertainment companies formally demand OpenAI cease training on their content after Sora 2 outputs start looking suspiciously like protected IP, while the company scrambles to block Martin Luther King deepfakes
Meta launches AI video feed nobody asked for, takes it to Europe anyway - Vibes expands across Europe despite users calling it “AI slop” and telling Zuckerberg “gang nobody wants this” directly on his announcement post
Nvidia becomes first $5 trillion company---then Wall Street starts asking questions
The story: Nvidia made history on October 29-30 by becoming the first company ever to cross $5 trillion in market value. CEO Jensen Huang announced the company has secured over $500 billion in orders for AI chips through the end of 2026---unprecedented visibility into future revenue for any tech company. The milestone came after Trump hinted at possible Blackwell chip exports to China, sending the stock soaring. Nvidia’s manufacturing 6 million Blackwell GPUs from its new Arizona facility, with plans to ship 14 million more over five quarters. But the celebration came during a brutal week for tech stocks, with AI-focused companies like Palantir dropping 11%, Oracle down 9%, and even Nvidia shedding 7% despite the historic achievement.
What we know:
Nvidia hit $5 trillion market cap on October 29-30, first company in history to reach this milestone
Huang announced $500 billion in chip orders locked in through end of 2026
Company manufacturing Blackwell GPUs in Arizona, shipped 6M units, expects 14M more in next five quarters
Tech stocks dropped sharply the same week: Palantir -11%, Oracle -9%, Nvidia -7%
Apple and Microsoft both sitting around $4 trillion market cap
Analysts raising concerns about stretched valuations and AI bubble fears
Why it matters: This is the AI gold rush hitting its peak---and maybe its ceiling. Nvidia’s $5 trillion valuation is larger than most countries’ entire stock markets. The $500 billion in locked orders proves AI spending isn’t slowing down. But Wall Street’s simultaneous freakout reveals the contradiction: everyone’s buying AI infrastructure, but nobody can explain when it’ll actually make money. The timing is telling---historic milestone meets worst week for tech stocks in months. That’s not celebration, that’s peak bubble behavior.
Nvidia’s valuation depends entirely on the AI boom continuing forever at current spending levels. The moment Meta, Microsoft, Google, or Amazon decide they’ve bought enough GPUs, that $5 trillion number craters. The $500 billion in orders sounds massive until you realize it’s just five quarters of visibility in an industry building for decades of growth. And here’s the kicker: Nvidia’s success makes it everyone’s target. Every cloud provider is designing custom chips to escape Nvidia’s pricing power. The moat isn’t as deep as the valuation suggests.
Studio Ghibli tells OpenAI to stop stealing their art for Sora 2
The story: Japan’s Content Overseas Distribution Association delivered a formal cease-and-desist to OpenAI on October 27, demanding they stop using copyrighted works to train Sora 2. The coalition includes Studio Ghibli, Square Enix, Bandai Namco, and Shueisha---basically everyone who makes Japanese entertainment worth watching. They’re arguing that Sora 2’s outputs look suspiciously like protected works and Japan’s law requires permission first, not the opt-out system OpenAI prefers. Meanwhile, OpenAI spent the week blocking Martin Luther King Jr. deepfakes after users created “disrespectful depictions” and cracking down after Bryan Cranston and SAG-AFTRA raised hell about unauthorized celebrity videos. The company says it’s strengthening guardrails, but the damage is already viral.
What we know:
CODA (representing Studio Ghibli, Square Enix, Bandai Namco) sent formal request on October 27 demanding OpenAI stop using their content
Japan’s law requires prior permission for copyrighted works, conflicting with OpenAI’s opt-out approach
OpenAI blocked Martin Luther King Jr. videos after “disrespectful depictions” went viral
Bryan Cranston and SAG-AFTRA pushed OpenAI to crack down on unauthorized celebrity deepfakes
Robin Williams’ daughter asked people to stop sending her AI videos of her late father
Sora 2 launched September 30, hit 1 million downloads in under 5 days, spent 3 weeks at #1 on App Store
Why it matters: OpenAI’s “build first, apologize later” strategy just hit Japan’s copyright wall at full speed. The Studio Ghibli coalition isn’t suing---they’re demanding OpenAI stop using their content entirely. That’s different. Japan doesn’t play the American game of monetizing lawsuits. They want compliance or nothing. And OpenAI’s scrambling response proves they know it. Blocking MLK deepfakes and celebrity videos after they go viral is closing the barn door after the horses posted to Instagram. The real problem is systemic: Sora 2 was trained on copyrighted content and there’s no technical fix that removes what it learned.
OpenAI launched Sora 2 with watermarks and promised safeguards, then watched users strip the watermarks in seven days and flood the platform with exactly the content they said wouldn’t happen. The Japanese complaint is surgical: your outputs prove you trained on our content without permission. OpenAI’s defense---”we have an opt-out system”---doesn’t work in Japan’s legal framework. The kicker is timing: this hits right as Sora 2 expands to Asian markets. OpenAI needs Japan’s market, but Japan’s creators want control, not compensation after the fact.
Meta launches AI video feed nobody asked for, takes it to Europe anyway
The story: Meta announced November 6 that Vibes---its TikTok-style feed of AI-generated videos---is launching across Europe, six weeks after its deeply unpopular U.S. debut. The platform lets users create and remix AI videos using prompts, music, and effects, then share to a dedicated feed or cross-post to Instagram and Facebook. Meta’s celebrating a tenfold increase in AI media generation since launch. Users are celebrating by roasting Zuckerberg directly under his announcement posts with comments like “gang nobody wants this” and “Bro’s posting ai slop on his own app.” The ironic part? YouTube is actively cracking down on AI-generated content while Meta doubles down on making it their entire product strategy.
What we know:
Vibes launched in Europe on November 6, six weeks after U.S. release
Platform hit 3.9 million downloads by mid-October, trailing Sora 2’s iOS performance
Meta reports 10x increase in AI media generation across Meta AI app since launch
Top comment on Zuckerberg’s announcement: “gang nobody wants this”
YouTube implementing measures to limit and label AI-made videos
Vibes uses Meta’s algorithm that doesn’t distinguish between human and AI content
Why it matters: This is Meta betting billions that people want to scroll through endless AI-generated videos instead of content made by actual humans. The strategy directly contradicts what users are screaming at them and what competitors like YouTube are doing. Meta’s calling it “social and collaborative creation.” Users are calling it “AI slop.” The 10x increase in generation means people are creating with it, but that doesn’t mean anyone wants to watch it. The real play is obvious: Meta sees Sora 2’s success and wants to own the AI video category before OpenAI does. But launching a product everyone hates just to beat a competitor rarely works.
The contrast with YouTube is perfect. YouTube says: we’re fighting AI-generated spam to protect creators. Meta says: here’s a feed of nothing but AI-generated content. The 56% download spike sounds impressive until you realize it’s still losing to Sora 2 despite Meta’s billion-user advantage. And calling it “Vibes” while users call it “slop” is the most Meta thing possible---spending millions on branding a product people actively reject. The algorithm not distinguishing between human and AI content is the tell. Meta doesn’t care about authenticity. They care about engagement, and if AI generates more of it cheaper, humans can find another platform.
Note: Commentary sections are editorial interpretation, not factual claims