The three mid-ranking Silicon Valley engineers behind Nvidia had just $40,000 (£31,500) between them when they started the company three decades ago, fuelled by a belief that 3D graphics would change the rapidly growing video game industry.

Now, it costs the same amount to buy just one of Nvidia’s microprocessors, and it can’t make enough of them. 

The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has made Nvidia perhaps the world’s most important tech company and secured it a value of more than $1.2 trillion.

Its latest boost came on Wednesday night, when the business revealed quarterly profits had climbed by a staggering 843pc in a year alone, up from $656m to $6.2bn.

Sales in its data centre business, which reflects demand for its top AI chips, climbed by 141pc in just three months, surpassing even Wall Street’s lofty expectations.

The best news for investors was that the company predicted the party would continue, forecasting another leap in sales in the third quarter of this year. 

Shares, already at a record high, rose by 6.5pc as markets opened on Thursday and to some, the only question is how high can it can go.

The latest rally cemented Nvidia’s spot as a world-leading tech giant.