Nvidia’s control of scarce AI compute makes it resemble a central bank for the generative AI economy

The article argues that Nvidia has become the key allocator of AI’s most important resource: high-end compute. Its GPUs, software ecosystem, and supply constraints give it unusual leverage over startups, cloud providers, and the pace of AI infrastructure expansion.

Nvidia’s position shows how the AI boom is concentrating power around hardware bottlenecks, not just models or applications. If compute remains scarce, access to chips may increasingly shape market winners, funding dynamics, and geopolitical strategy around AI capacity.