Oppenheimer analyst Rick Schafer highlighted Nvidia’s performance-per-watt advantage and software ecosystem, naming it a top pick with a $265 target. He expects Blackwell Ultra systems to remain roughly two product cycles ahead of AMD and Intel, reinforcing confidence in Nvidia’s next-generation hardware lead.

Jensen Huang rejected notions that the U.S. would “lose” out, warning that China’s DeepSeek project is about to ship its next-generation V4 AI model optimized for Huawei chips. He argued that limiting U.S. chip sales risks accelerating China’s development of an independent AI stack, which could undermine Nvidia’s long-term market position.

Investors have directed approximately $8.3 billion into AI chip startups this year, reflecting a shift toward inference-focused designs that prioritize energy efficiency over raw GPU power. This influx of capital highlights growing competition in the AI hardware market as companies seek alternatives to traditional GPU architectures.

Nvidia continues to defend its lead by committing over $18 billion to research and development, with major bets on photonics and new architectures. These investments aim to sustain its performance edge, expand its software ecosystem, and maintain customer lock-in across data-center and AI applications.