On Wednesday, Nvidia became the first company in history to reach $4 trillion market valuation as shares rose more than 2 percent, reports CNBC. The GPU maker's stock has climbed 22 percent since the start of 2025, continuing a trend driven by demand for AI hardware following ChatGPT's late 2022 launch.

The milestone marks the highest market cap ever recorded for a publicly traded company, surpassing Apple's previous record of $3.8 trillion set in December. Nvidia first crossed $2 trillion in February 2024 and reached $3 trillion just four months later in June. The $4 trillion valuation represents a market capitalization larger than the GDP of most countries.

As we explained in 2023, Nvidia's continued success has been intimately tied to growth in demand for hardware that runs AI models as capably and efficiently as possible. The company's data center GPUs excel at performing billions of matrix multiplications necessary to train and run neural networks due to their parallel architecture—hardware architectures that originated as video game graphics accelerators now power the generative AI boom.

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• Molly Shannon says Lorne Michaels is "irreplaceable" as "SNL" showrunner.
• But there's one current cast member she seems to think could one day take the reins — Kenan Thompson.
• Thompson is the longest-tenured cast member in the NBC show's history.

Actor Molly Shannon has backed the idea of Kenan Thompson one day taking over from longtime "Saturday Night Live" showrunner Lorne Michaels, despite calling Michaels "irreplaceable."

Asked what she thought about Thompson potentially taking the reins at the NBC show in an interview with People, Shannon, who was a cast member between 1995 and 2001, said it was "an excellent idea."

"I love this idea. He's the greatest — I adore Kenan," she said, adding that he was "so talented."

Thompson joined "SNL" in 2003 and is the longest-tenured cast member in its history, notching his 22nd season this year.

Rumors of Michaels' retirement grew as "SNL" neared its 50th anniversary earlier this year, fueling speculation over who could take over as showrunner.

For Shannon, it seems the show will never be the same, no matter who comes in.

"There's no one who could replace him. It would not be the same show," Shannon told People of Michaels, who created the sketch comedy show in 1975. "He's just a one-of-a-kind genius. Brilliant. Smart."

"It's his show, his vision," she added.

In September 2024, Michaels, 80, addressed speculation over his future, telling The Hollywood Reporter he had no "immediate" plans to retire.

"I just know that this is kind of what I do and as long as I can keep doing it, I'll keep doing it," he said at the time.

Earlier this year, Thompson hinted that fans of "SNL" could see a major shakeup when the show returns following the wrap of its 50th season.

"Especially this year where it feels like there's maybe, possibly, a lot of change next year," he told Page Six. "You want everyone to stay forever, knowing that people may be making decisions this summer."

He added that he had yet to sign a new contract for the coming season but expressed interest in returning.

"You just never know what the future holds," he said. "I don't want to be in the way of someone else."

"I don't want to be the stale old man riding the same old thing. That doesn't really happen that much at 'SNL' but there's no guarantees," he added.

Representatives for "SNL" and Thompson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.