networking

Instead, suppliers of data center components such as lasers, cooling systems, and networking equipment matched or even outpaced the chipmaker on Thursday.

Another area where Nvidia acts as both competitor and a driver of growth is in networking hardware.

Nvidia’s networking revenues rose 162% year-over-year as the company ramped up the deployment of its high-performance interconnect technology, highlighting another booming area of the AI trade and sending shares of Arista Networks Inc.

Driving home AI importance, Rajadhyaksha estimates about 1% of U.S. growth in 2025 came from spending on the technology, with “old” economy spillover for construction on data centers, telecoms firms putting down networking equipment, etc.

The alliance with Cisco makes sense: Aside from its reputation as a leader in networking, the company has partnered with IBM since 1999.