Nvidia’s Role in the AI Boom
Nvidia has become the face of the AI revolution by doing what early winners always do: making the future tangible. It’s a familiar pattern. In the PC cycle, those were the silicon suppliers. In the Internet era, it was all about building infrastructure. But those cycles also reveal something more important—the companies that capture attention first are not always the ones that capture the most value.
However, there is always nuance when leveraging technology in transitions. That nuance is in Apple today.
Nvidia deserves recognition for selling the future that’s coming true. Its products will power tomorrow’s data centers and the market knows it. Yet that doesn’t mean this story is over—not by a long shot. The infrastructure of the future will still need to be consumed, and that’s where another company steps in.
Apple’s Position in the Next Phase
Apple is where the AI era story continues, based on what we are seeing now with Nvidia and its data centers.
For starters, AI isn’t merely the technology behind the scenes in a data center. At some point, it needs to be used by real people, not just engineers building AI. Billions of consumers around the globe will experience it firsthand. They’ll feel it through their devices, apps, ecosystems and digital experiences.
Apple has everything needed to facilitate AI at scale. It has the device that defined modern consumer tech, the software development infrastructure and the largest app marketplace ever created. All of this is part of its product suite.
More importantly, all this is also part of the consumer infrastructure.
The Rise of AI Agents
So what’s happening now is simply the evolution of AI, not its inception. As it becomes more sophisticated, it evolves into the type of intelligent agency that acts on behalf of its user: booking flights, managing money, making appointments and performing any task via third-party software. This changes the landscape dramatically.
That also brings us to a topic that deserves more coverage than it currently gets.
AI-powered agents (ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini etc) are changing the landscape because they need more than processing capabilities and memory. They also need a place to live, an authentication infrastructure, payment mechanisms and the trust consumers will be willing to give them. Everything has been prepared for the AI era to be realized successfully.
The Power of Trust and Ecosystem
In this case, that means Apple is ready to host the future of consumer digital experiences, thanks to the trust it has built over time. In fact, the company appears to have had the foresight to prepare its platform for the transition. That is exactly what the best tech companies do, as history suggests.
Being in the middle of the AI story within such an infrastructure means having incredible leverage. Apple could provide the platform that coordinates AI models running on massive cloud servers and delivers personalized services to consumers. It has an edge in both price and the developer ecosystem.
Moreover, when developing AI-based applications, every developer needs a venue that best reaches the target audience. With such a large base of users who trust Apple, the decision is easy. That creates momentum and reinforces its lead. Fifteen years have already passed since Apple started spinning the wheel of its services business.
The Shift From Infrastructure to Platform
This is not to suggest that Nvidia has fully realized its vision—far from it. The AI transition is still in its early stages, and Nvidia remains in a leading position. However, history points to a broader pattern: infrastructure leaders eventually give way to platform players. Economic forces tend to drive this shift, and that dynamic now appears to be working in Apple’s favor.
In particular, the AI story involves several components that make up the platform, including the device itself, its operating system, app store, developer ecosystem, and payment infrastructure. No company in history has controlled all these elements at once, which makes Apple unique and hard to imitate.
Where Value Ultimately Accrues
Finally, the AI economy is big enough for many winners at once. Nvidia, for instance, will likely remain one. However, Apple’s leverage is more significant and durable: it controls the environment in which those tools are used. From devices and operating systems to app distribution and payments, Apple owns the entire consumer stack.
History suggests that this is where the greatest value ultimately accrues. Keep that in mind as Apple takes the stage at WWDC, June 9–11, 2026. The next phase of the AI story may not simply evolve—it may be orchestrated.
Disclosure: Nvidia and Apple subscribe to the research reports from the company I founded, Creative Strategies, along with many other high-tech companies around the world.
