0.000000 3.160000 Tech It From Me is an independent and solo-produced podcast. 3.160000 8.080000 Well it's now official, Microsoft has just become the second company in history to close 8.080000 12.960000 a trading day with a market valuation above $4 trillion. 12.960000 15.720000 Let that sink in. 15.720000 20.280000 Only one other company in video has hit that milestone before and it happened just a 20.280000 21.800000 few weeks ago. 21.800000 24.920000 Now Microsoft joins them at the summit. 24.920000 30.280000 In this episode, we're going to explore how Microsoft reached this level, why it matters, 30.280000 33.160000 and what it signals for the future of the tech industry. 33.160000 39.080000 We'll also loop in the role of NVIDIA and revisit some of the themes for my earlier episode 39.080000 40.720000 on their rise. 40.720000 42.080000 This is Tech It From Me. 42.080000 43.080000 Let's go. 43.080000 46.360000 This is the Tech It From Me podcast. 46.360000 53.080000 On Thursday, July 31st, 2025, Microsoft officially closed the trading day with a market cap 53.080000 56.600000 just over $4 trillion. 56.600000 58.000000 This wasn't a fluke. 58.000000 61.720000 It wasn't a brief spike in the morning that fizzled out by lunch. 61.720000 68.800000 This was a full-day rally driven by blowout earnings, analyst upgrades, and sustained investor 68.800000 70.400000 confidence. 70.400000 76.840000 By the time the closing bell rang at 4 p.m. Eastern, Microsoft had secured its place in history. 76.840000 79.080000 And the context here matters. 79.080000 83.480000 This milestone places Microsoft in an ultra-exclusive club. 83.480000 89.680000 NVIDIA became the first public company to close above 4 trillion just weeks earlier. 89.680000 93.560000 Apple came close but hasn't closed at that level yet. 93.560000 96.960000 Amazon and Google are still trailing behind. 96.960000 98.760000 Now consider this. 98.760000 104.320000 Just two years ago, Microsoft was worth around $2.5 trillion. 104.320000 112.080000 That means they added $1.5 trillion in market value in under 24 months. 112.080000 117.880000 That's more than the entire market cap of meta, Netflix, or Tesla. 117.880000 123.040000 And they didn't, not by reinventing the wheel, but by integrating AI into their existing 123.040000 127.480000 ecosystem in a way that nobody else has. 127.480000 131.480000 They didn't have to disrupt their business, they evolved it. 131.480000 136.680000 This wasn't about selling more Xbox consoles or Surface laptops. 136.680000 141.920000 This was about positioning themselves as the backbone of artificial intelligence for 141.920000 143.680000 business. 143.680000 149.960000 From Azure to co-pilot to GitHub and beyond, Microsoft has embedded intelligence into the 149.960000 153.360000 tools that power the enterprise world. 153.360000 160.920000 So when we talk about a $4 trillion market cap, we're not just talking about investor optimism. 160.920000 167.040000 We're talking about a company that has successfully turned a decades-old software empire into an 167.040000 171.400000 AI-powered infrastructure layer for the modern economy. 171.400000 173.640000 It's not just a big number. 173.640000 175.640000 This is a signal. 175.640000 178.960000 So what exactly fueled this rise? 178.960000 185.960000 There are four key pillars, but the real magic lies in how these pieces reinforce one another. 185.960000 188.640000 So the first pillar, Azure. 188.640000 193.600000 Microsoft's cloud business has become the linchpin of its growth strategy. 193.600000 196.880000 Azure isn't just competing with AWS anymore. 196.880000 201.480000 It's uniquely positioned to power AI workloads. 201.480000 207.640000 Microsoft's integration with open AI gives Azure access to best-in-class models, making 207.640000 212.480000 it the go-to platform for developers building intelligent apps. 212.480000 217.920000 And let's not forget, every time a business signs up for Azure AI services, they're likely 217.920000 223.520000 also embedding themselves deeper into the Microsoft ecosystem. 223.520000 226.660000 The second pillar is co-pilot. 226.660000 229.960000 Microsoft didn't just sprinkle AI on top of office. 229.960000 232.600000 They rebuilt the experience around it. 232.600000 238.680000 With co-pilot, users don't need to open chat GPT in a browser or fiddle with prompts. 238.680000 244.600000 They just write in word, build an Excel or email and outlook, and AI is already there 244.600000 247.160000 anticipating needs. 247.160000 251.760000 That kind of contextual intelligence doesn't just improve productivity. 251.760000 259.680000 It makes Microsoft software feel indispensable, and because it's tied to Microsoft 365 licenses, 259.680000 264.600000 there's recurring revenue baked into every interaction. 264.600000 268.880000 The third pillar is the open AI partnership. 268.880000 276.320000 Back in 2023, Microsoft made waves with its $10 billion investment in open AI. 276.320000 280.720000 What seemed like a moonshot is now clearly a masterstroke. 280.720000 283.480000 Microsoft didn't try to outbuild open AI. 283.480000 285.040000 They partnered. 285.040000 292.640000 That partnership gave them exclusive commercial rights, deep integration via Azure, and a major 292.640000 295.000000 first mover advantage. 295.000000 299.840000 While other companies were scrambling to spin up AI initiatives, Microsoft had already 299.840000 305.440000 shipped GPT power tools to tens of millions of users. 305.440000 309.320000 The last pillar is enterprise trust. 309.320000 313.400000 Perhaps the most underrated pillar of all four. 313.400000 319.800000 Microsoft is the safe boring bet for most CIOs, and that's a huge asset in an AI world full 319.800000 322.000000 of uncertainty. 322.000000 327.800000 Companies already trust Microsoft with their identity systems, compliance policies, email, 327.800000 329.840000 documents, you name it. 329.840000 334.760000 So when Microsoft rolls out AI tools, it's not seen as experimental. 334.760000 338.160000 It's just an upgrade to something they already rely on. 338.160000 340.840000 No extra sales pitch is needed. 340.840000 343.640000 Each of these pillars feeds the other. 343.640000 345.440000 Azure runs co-pilot. 345.440000 348.520000 Co-pilot is powered by open AI. 348.520000 351.440000 Open AI is hosted on Azure. 351.440000 355.520000 Enterprise is deployed all of it through Microsoft's existing agreements. 355.520000 361.000000 This is the power of alignment, technical, financial, and strategic. 361.000000 365.600000 It's a major reason why Microsoft didn't just survive the AI shift. 365.600000 366.600000 They've let it. 366.600000 372.720000 And we can't talk about infrastructure without talking about the company under the infrastructure 372.720000 374.760000 in video. 374.760000 382.080000 Every AI request you make inside Microsoft co-pilot, every model trained or fine tuned on Azure, 382.080000 388.880000 every deployment that runs inference on GPT or similar models behind all of those is 388.880000 391.120000 Nvidia hardware. 391.120000 395.640000 This is the part most users never see, but it's critical. 395.640000 398.200000 Microsoft doesn't manufacture chips. 398.200000 406.000000 They rely on Nvidia's GPUs, specifically the H100 and newer H200 series for powering 406.000000 410.320000 large-scale training and real-time inference. 410.320000 415.880000 These chips sit in Microsoft's data centers and power the massive compute loads required 415.880000 419.040000 by today's advanced AI models. 419.040000 424.340000 So when you open word and co-pilot helps you write a paragraph, there's a good chance that 424.340000 430.720000 request is being processed by a GPU that costs tens of thousands of dollars and is sitting 430.720000 437.480000 inside a warehouse size server farm courtesy of Microsoft and Nvidia. 437.480000 442.040000 Microsoft is now one of Nvidia's biggest enterprise clients. 442.040000 447.160000 And this isn't a buyer-seller relationship, it's symbiotic. 447.160000 450.840000 Nvidia benefits from Microsoft scale and demand. 450.840000 457.560000 Microsoft benefits from having first access to Nvidia's most advanced silicon. 457.560000 463.600000 This relationship is a key reason both companies are in the $4 trillion club. 463.600000 467.480000 They don't compete, they amplify each other. 467.480000 469.920000 And it's not just about chips. 469.920000 476.980000 Nvidia's CUDA ecosystem, it's AI software stack, it's model optimization tools, they all 476.980000 479.800000 integrate tightly with Azure. 479.800000 485.920000 Microsoft has gone out of its way to make Azure the best place to run Nvidia powered AI at 485.920000 487.480000 scale. 487.480000 495.280000 So while Microsoft is the face of enterprise AI, Nvidia is the power plant behind the curtain. 495.280000 501.520000 You can think of it like this, Microsoft is building the roads, the vehicles and the GPS, 501.520000 505.360000 Nvidia is simply supplying the engine. 505.360000 508.800000 Without one, the other doesn't go nearly as far. 508.800000 512.880000 So now let's talk about why this moment in time matters. 512.880000 518.520000 This isn't just about market cap, it's about momentum and influence and the fact that we're 518.520000 523.840000 witnessing a shift in what kind of company shape the future of technology. 523.840000 527.280000 For the past two decades, consumer tech was king. 527.280000 533.860000 Think about it, iPhones, Android phones, Netflix, Instagram, innovation was measured in how 533.860000 536.760000 many people you could reach. 536.760000 540.360000 But in 2025, the conversation has shifted. 540.360000 546.240000 Now infrastructure, platforms and enterprise intelligence are leading the way. 546.240000 549.720000 So let's take a quick look at some of the other major players. 549.720000 555.600000 Apple remains the world's most iconic consumer brand, but its AI narrative is only now beginning 555.600000 557.480000 to take shape. 557.480000 563.480000 With the next iOS teasing on device AI, Apple is clearly watching the trend, but it's 563.480000 567.000000 not setting the enterprise agenda. 567.000000 575.480000 Amazon still dominates cloud with AWS, but its consumer facing AI like Lexa has lost momentum. 575.480000 582.760000 And while AWS offers solid AI services, they've yet to launch an AI toolset as visible and 582.760000 586.560000 integrated as Microsoft's co-pilot. 586.560000 593.600000 Google arguably has the most raw AI research power thanks to deep mind and Gemini, but their 593.600000 596.280000 rollout has been very bumpy. 596.280000 600.560000 Product cohesion and market clarity continue to be challenges. 600.560000 606.400000 People know Google has AI, they just don't always know how to use it. 606.400000 613.480000 Meanwhile Microsoft has quietly and methodically shipped AI-powered productivity with co-pilot, 613.480000 621.320000 AI infrastructure with Azure, developer tools via GitHub co-pilot, an enterprise trust 621.320000 624.600000 through Microsoft 365. 624.600000 627.400000 And here's the strategic insight. 627.400000 631.640000 Microsoft isn't asking people to switch platforms to use AI. 631.640000 635.080000 They're enhancing what you already rely on. 635.080000 636.680000 That's quite powerful. 636.680000 642.440000 It reduces friction, it increases adoption, and deepens the company's hold on the enterprise 642.440000 643.960000 stack. 643.960000 649.000000 It makes Microsoft not just a vendor, but a default. 649.000000 652.280000 So what does this mean going forward? 652.280000 657.960000 We're likely heading into a tech era dominated, not just by consumer scale, but by enterprise 657.960000 660.120000 intelligent scale. 660.120000 665.000000 Where the companies that thrive are the ones that can bring AI to every business, every 665.000000 671.880000 employee and every workflow, with stability, security, and return on investment. 671.880000 674.840000 Microsoft and Nvidia are already doing it. 674.840000 678.400000 Others will follow suit, but the bar is set pretty high. 678.400000 682.380000 This is no longer about who has the best demo at a conference. 682.380000 687.280000 It's about who can execute reliably, securely, and at scale. 687.280000 693.760000 Right now, Microsoft's not just shaping the tide, they're controlling the current. 693.760000 696.040000 So here we are, there you have it. 696.040000 702.120000 Two companies, Microsoft and Nvidia, each valued at over $4 trillion. 702.120000 707.720000 Each playing a unique but deeply connected role in the AI revolution. 707.720000 710.000000 Just applies the raw power. 710.000000 713.880000 Microsoft delivers a platform, the tools, and the trust. 713.880000 716.440000 This isn't just a financial milestone. 716.440000 722.160000 It's a strategic marker, a signal that the future of technology belongs to the companies 722.160000 728.800000 that can integrate AI at scale into real world workflows, without requiring people to reinvent 728.800000 730.760000 how they work. 730.760000 733.160000 Microsoft didn't just build new products. 733.160000 740.360000 They amplified the ones people already use, securely, contractually, and intelligently. 740.360000 745.240000 And that, more than anything else, is what sets them apart right now. 745.240000 749.600000 If you're an IT leader, a technologist, or even just someone curious about where this is 749.600000 752.880000 all going, here's what I'll leave you with. 752.880000 755.160000 Watch the infrastructure players. 755.160000 758.280000 Watch the companies that power the builders. 758.280000 763.960000 And watch the ones who quietly earn trust while others chase headlines. 763.960000 767.440000 Microsoft and Nvidia, they're not just on top. 767.440000 768.840000 They're designing the map. 768.840000 772.520000 The rest of the industry is now trying to follow. 772.520000 777.040000 If you haven't listened to my Nvidia episode yet, it pairs perfectly with this one. 777.040000 780.280000 Go check it out wherever you get your podcasts from. 780.280000 784.720000 And if you're enjoying this podcast, please consider leaving a five-star rating or sharing 784.720000 788.720000 it with someone who geeks out on tech like you and I do. 788.720000 791.080000 This has been the Tech It From Me podcast. 791.080000 792.560000 Thank you for listening. 792.560000 795.440000 Tech It From Me is an independent and solo-produced podcast. 795.440000 796.551750 [BLANK_AUDIO]