NVIDIA Q1 revenue results

May 29, 2025

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Welcome back to The Pulse, where we dive into interesting AI stories and trends backed by data, all presented through simple visuals.

> revenue nearly doubled YoY but losses faced due to China chip export restrictions

> Chinese AI chip market "effectively closed to US industry" per CEO

> gross margin: 61% (would be 71.3% without China charges) vs 78.4% prior year due to rising costs

> operating expenses up 44% YoY to $5B

> Blackwell NVL72 AI supercomputer in "full-scale production"

> revenue breakdown:

  • data center: $39.1B (88% of total), up 73% YoY

  • gaming: $3.8B (9%), up 42% YoY

  • automotive/robotics: $567M (1.3%), up 72% YoY

  • professional visualization: $509M (1.2%), up 19% YoY

> Klarna: financial services + calls themselves an “AI-first” company

> since Q1 ‘23:

  • revenue per employee up 152% at close to $1M

  • 40% drop in cost per customer service transaction (satisfaction maintained)

  • reduced total headcount by 39%

  • proportion of tech & product employees increased from 36% to 52%

> implemented AI across:

  • customer service

  • legal

  • marketing

  • finance

> test deemed as Humanity's Last Exam for computer and browser use agents

> Manus leading reportedly due to proactive planning and orchestration

> overall scores remain low:

  • Browser use: struggle with spreadsheets

  • Gemini 2.5 Pro: attempted multiple simultaneous actions

> actual task completion much below reported numbers (partial credit given)

> agents still unable to complete full tasks

> winners across different categories:

  • business operations: OpenAI CUA

  • construction: Claude and OpenAI

  • consumer & finance: Manus

  • healthcare & supply chain: OpenAI