In 2026, NVIDIA's ascent to the top marks the official coronation of the 'Age of Compute.' Once a niche player in graphics processing, its market capitalization now eclipses that of traditional energy giants and even the GDPs of several nations. Unlike its peers who focus primarily on consumer electronics or cloud services, NVIDIA has built its moat by providing the essential 'shovels' for the global AI infrastructure. An intriguing data point: NVIDIA’s annual R&D and capital expenditures now exceed the entire annual scientific research budgets of many developed nations—a level of 'compute capitalization' unprecedented in tech history.