The age of the unicorn is over

Business has never been better for America’s tech giants. After slumping in 2022, the combined market value of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft has surged by 70%, to over $10trn, since the start of 2023 amid the hype over artificial intelligence (AI). The technology has also propelled others into the industry’s upper echelons. On February 21st Nvidia, an AI-chip champion, reported that its sales rocketed by 265%, year on year, in the quarter to January. Its market value has risen from around $500bn a year ago to $1.7trn, making it America’s fifth-most-valuable firm. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, and other AI builders such as Anthropic have shot to fame, scooping up billions of dollars in funding.