The DJIA, created in 1896 as a proxy indicator for the broader stock market, comprises 30 stocks that have only been changed 57 times over the past 128 years — now making that 58.

A stock is typically added only if the company has an excellent reputation, demonstrates sustained growth, and is of interest to many investors.

The latest change, reported by CNBC, underscores Nvidia's rising prominence as companies like Microsoft, Meta, Google, and Amazon purchase its GPUs in massive quantities to build AI computer clusters.

Nvidia's revenue has more than doubled in the past five quarters and tripled in three. The company has signalled that demand for its next-generation AI GPU, Blackwell, is "insane."

Chipzilla, long the dominant maker of PC chips, has struggled. The company has lost market share to AMD and has made little progress in AI. Intel shares have fallen by more than half this year due to manufacturing challenges and new competition for its central processors. In a filing this week, Intel announced that its board's audit and finance committee approved cost and capital reduction activities, including lowering its headcount by 16,500 employees and reducing its real estate footprint. The job cuts were initially announced in August.

The DJIA will now include four of six tech companies worth $1 trillion: Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Amazon (which joined in February, replacing the owners of the Walgreens pharmacy chain). The other two trillion-dollar tech companies, Meta and Alphabet, are not included in the DJIA.

The index's curators said adding Nvidia to the DJIA will ensure "more representative exposure to the semiconductors industry" within the average.