Nvidia stock surged Thursday as the company crossed a $5.5 trillion market valuation following a Reuters report that the U.S. Commerce Department approved advanced H200 chip sales to several Chinese technology companies.

The surge adds to what has already become one of the most extraordinary runs in modern stock market history. Nvidia has transformed from a semiconductor company primarily known for graphics processing into the central infrastructure provider powering the AI economy, with its chips now driving everything from large language models to massive data centers and enterprise AI systems. Analysts across Wall Street have continued raising price targets as demand for AI computing power accelerates globally.

Much of Thursday’s momentum appeared tied to growing optimism surrounding Nvidia’s position in China. Reports indicated that major Chinese technology companies were among those cleared to purchase the H200 chips under U.S. export restrictions. Although shipments have reportedly not yet begun, investors viewed the approvals as another sign that Nvidia could regain access to a critical market that had become increasingly uncertain amid rising U.S.-China tensions.

The rally also reflects a broader reality now reshaping Wall Street: artificial intelligence is no longer being treated as a speculative technology trend. Increasingly, investors are viewing AI infrastructure as the foundation of the next major era of economic growth, with Nvidia positioned at the center of that transformation.

As markets opened Thursday morning, Nvidia shares continued moving higher, extending a run that has helped lift the broader technology sector and fuel record highs across major indexes. For investors who entered the stock earlier in the AI cycle, the gains have been staggering — and for Wall Street, Nvidia has become one of the clearest symbols yet of how aggressively capital is flowing into the future of artificial intelligence.