The world's most valuable company has again defied eye-watering forecasts, delivering a bumper set of financial results.

这家全球市值最高的公司再度超出极高的市场预期，交出了一份亮眼的财报。

Nvidia, the chipmaker valued at more than $5.1bn (£3.8bn) and powering much of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, said gross profit hit $133.3bn (£98bn) in the first half of the year.

英伟达是推动人工智能热潮的芯片制造商，市值超51亿美元（合38亿英镑）。该公司表示，上半年毛利润达到1333亿美元（合980亿英镑）。

The firm's results have become a bellwether for investment in AI and the health of the overall economy as companies and governments invest in the tech and necessary infrastructure, particularly data centres, that powers it.

各类企业与政府纷纷投资人工智能技术及其配套基础设施，尤其是数据中心。因此，英伟达的业绩已经成为衡量人工智能投资热度以及整体经济景气状况的风向标。

The question of when a slowdown could come remains unanswered, as not only did Nvidia's revenue rise 106% to $96.2bn (£71bn) in the three months up to July, since the same time last year, it forecast revenue growth of 70% next financial year, surpassing Wall Street estimates.

增长何时会放缓，目前依旧没有答案。截至7月的三个月，英伟达营收较去年同期大涨106%，达到962亿美元（合710亿英镑）；同时公司预测下一财年营收将实现70%的增长，超出华尔街的预估。

Its co-founder and chief executive, Jensen Huang, was characteristically bullish, saying "demand is accelerating".

公司联合创始人兼首席执行官黄仁勋一如既往态度乐观，他表示：“市场需求正在加速攀升。”

"We have a golden age of new AI labs and startups," he added.

他补充说：“各类新兴人工智能实验室和初创企业正迎来黄金时代。”

Why does Nvidia matter?

英伟达为何举足轻重？

Originally a maker of graphics hardware for gamers, Nvidia now provides the chips that power AI systems such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, as well as the UK's most powerful supercomputer.

英伟达最初面向游戏玩家生产图形硬件，如今它提供的芯片支撑着OpenAI的ChatGPT、谷歌的Gemini等人工智能系统，同时也为英国性能最强的超级计算机提供算力。

Nvidia has become a significant stock market player.

英伟达已经成为股市当中举足轻重的企业。

Due to the number of highly valued shares it has issued, it comprises more than 7% of the entire S&P 500, a major US stock index made of companies relied on for stability and profitability.

由于发行了大量高市值股票，它在标普500指数整体权重中占比超过7%。标普500是美国主要股票指数，其成分股都是凭借经营稳定性与盈利能力获得市场信赖的公司。

Why does the AI boom matter?

人工智能热潮为何意义重大？

Building data centres especially has given a major boost to the US economy.

数据中心建设尤其为美国经济带来了强劲的拉动作用。

Faltering AI expansion, therefore, would affect the world's largest economies, which in turn would impact the UK and global economies.

因此，如果人工智能的扩张势头受挫，将会影响全球主要经济体，继而对英国以及世界经济造成冲击。

Data centre revenue for the three months to the end of July hit a record $89bn (£65.5bn), up 117% from a year ago.

截至7月末的三个月，英伟达数据中心业务营收创下890亿美元（合655亿英镑）的历史新高，同比上涨117%。

News that Nvidia had agreed a deal with the internet-powering cloud services provider, Amazon Web Services (AWS), to deploy two million AI-fuelling graphics processing units also helped its shares rise 4% in after-hours trading.

英伟达与云服务提供商亚马逊云科技（AWS）达成合作，将部署两百万块人工智能算力图形处理器。受该消息影响，公司盘后股价上涨4%。

Investors had previously shrugged off results that, on the face of it, seemed positive due to high expectations.

由于市场此前预期已经很高，即便财报表面上数据不错，投资者也曾对此反应冷淡。