# 2026 CMU Commencement Keynote Speaker: Jensen Huang

- Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZh_0uRgrg4 (YouTube)
- Creator: Carnegie Mellon University
- Published: 2026-05-10T18:39:33.000Z
- Transcribed by Memora: 2026-08-07T03:51:20.888Z
- Canonical page: https://dailymemora.com/youtube/87

> Transcript and summary produced by Memora from the publicly available
> video linked above. The original video belongs to its creator.

## Summary

### Jensen Huang's journey from immigrant to founder

Huang was sent from **Taiwan** to a **Kentucky boarding school** at age 9. His parents later joined with little; his mother worked as a maid and woke him at **4 a.m.** to deliver newspapers. He met his wife **Lori** at Oregon State; they have been married **40 years**. At **30** he co-founded **NVIDIA**.

### A near-failure that taught the value of honesty

Early on, NVIDIA nearly failed. Huang had to humbly ask **Sega's CEO** to pay for a cancelled contract. That experience taught him that **honesty can be met with kindness** — a lesson that stuck.

### The AI revolution is beginning at the right place and time

Huang sees the AI revolution starting now, and names **CMU** as the birthplace of AI and robotics. Computing is shifting from human coding to **machine learning**, making this a perfect moment for graduates to begin their life's work.

### AI fears and responsible engagement

AI will automate tasks but **amplify human capability**, creating new jobs and industries. Huang calls for responsible, optimistic engagement: turning everyone into a programmer, investing trillions in infrastructure to **reindustrialize America**, advancing AI safely, crafting thoughtful policies, and making AI accessible. He frames this as a chance to close the technology divide and restore America's capacity to build.

## Key points

- Huang's immigrant story: from Taiwan to a Kentucky boarding school at age 9, his mother working as a maid, and delivering newspapers at 4 a.m.
- NVIDIA nearly failed early; Huang learned that honesty can be met with kindness when Sega's CEO paid for a cancelled contract.
- The AI revolution is beginning, computing shifts from human coding to machine learning, and it is a perfect time for graduates to start their life's work.
- AI will automate tasks but amplify human capability, creating new jobs and industries, not just destroying them.
- Trillions in AI infrastructure investment can reindustrialize America and close the technology divide.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://dailymemora.com/youtube/87?t=0) From Immigrant to CEO
- [7:13](https://dailymemora.com/youtube/87?t=433) AI and Your Future

## Transcript

**[0:00]** President Jahanian,

**[0:02]** members of the Board of Trustees,

**[0:04]** faculty, distinguished guests, proud

**[0:06]** parents and families,

**[0:08]** and above all, the Carnegie Mellon CLASS

**[0:11]** OF 2026.

**[0:13]** >> [cheering]

**[0:15]** [applause]

**[0:17]** >> THANK YOU FOR THIS extraordinary honor.

**[0:20]** It is deeply meaningful to be here with

**[0:22]** Carnegie Mellon,

**[0:23]** one of the world's great universities,

**[0:26]** and one of the rare places

**[0:29]** that invents the future.

**[0:32]** Today is a day of pride and joy,

**[0:35]** a dream come true for you.

**[0:38]** But not only for you.

**[0:40]** Your families, teachers, mentors, and

**[0:43]** friends

**[0:44]** helped carry you here.

**[0:46]** Before we talk about the future,

**[0:49]** thank them.

**[0:51]** This day belongs to them, too.

**[0:54]** Graduates,

**[0:56]** please stand up. Stand with me.

**[0:58]** Come on, you guys.

**[1:01]** Especially,

**[1:03]** turn to your mothers and wish them a

**[1:06]** happy Mother's Day.

**[1:08]** >> [applause]

**[1:15]** >> For you,

**[1:17]** this is another step

**[1:19]** in your life. But for her,

**[1:22]** this is a dream come true.

**[1:25]** Please sit down.

**[1:31]** CMU students, like robots, take

**[1:35]** instructions one at a time.

**[1:45]** To see your graduate, to see you

**[1:50]** >> [clears throat]

**[1:52]** >> Okay, everybody, focus.

**[1:55]** I have something important to tell

**[1:56]** you.

**[1:58]** To see you graduate from one of the

**[2:00]** world's great institutions, this is her

**[2:02]** moment, too.

**[2:05]** My mom and dad are deeply proud of me,

**[2:07]** as well.

**[2:08]** My journey

**[2:10]** is their journey.

**[2:12]** I am their dream come true.

**[2:15]** And their dream

**[2:17]** was the American dream.

**[2:20]** Like many in this audience, I'm a

**[2:22]** first-generation immigrant.

**[2:24]** >> [cheering]

**[2:28]** [applause]

**[2:32]** >> My father had a dream to raise his

**[2:33]** family in America.

**[2:35]** When I was 9 years old, he sent my older

**[2:38]** brother and me to the United States.

**[2:40]** We ended up at a Baptist boarding school

**[2:43]** in Oneida, Kentucky.

**[2:45]** Coal country.

**[2:47]** A town of a few hundred people.

**[2:50]** Two years later, my parents left

**[2:52]** everything behind to join us.

**[2:55]** They came with little to nothing.

**[2:58]** My father was a chemical engineer.

**[3:00]** My mother worked as a maid at a Catholic

**[3:02]** school.

**[3:04]** She woke me up at 4:00 a.m. in the

**[3:05]** morning to deliver newspapers.

**[3:08]** My older brother got me a job as a

**[3:10]** dishwasher at Denny's.

**[3:13]** Which, at the time, felt like a major

**[3:16]** career advancement.

**[3:19]** That was my view of America.

**[3:22]** Not easy,

**[3:24]** but full of opportunities.

**[3:26]** Not a guarantee,

**[3:28]** but a chance.

**[3:30]** My parents came here because they

**[3:31]** believed America could give their

**[3:33]** children a chance.

**[3:36]** How can we not be romantic about

**[3:37]** America?

**[3:39]** I went to Oregon State University.

**[3:42]** I met my wife, Lori, when I was 17 years

**[3:44]** old. I was the youngest

**[3:46]** kid in school.

**[3:48]** We were sophomore lab partners.

**[3:51]** She was 19.

**[3:56]** >> [laughter]

**[4:00]** >> An older woman.

**[4:03]** >> [cheering]

**[4:05]** >> I beat out 250 other boys in class and

**[4:08]** won her heart.

**[4:12]** >> [applause]

**[4:17]** >> We've now been married for 40 years.

**[4:22]** >> [applause]

**[4:24]** >> We have two amazing children, both

**[4:27]** working at Nvidia.

**[4:32]** When I was 30, I started a company with

**[4:34]** Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, two

**[4:36]** amazing computer scientists. We wanted

**[4:38]** to build a new kind of computer, one

**[4:41]** that could solve problems ordinary

**[4:43]** computers could not.

**[4:45]** We had absolutely no idea how to build a

**[4:47]** company,

**[4:48]** raise money, or run Nvidia.

**[4:51]** I just thought,

**[4:53]** "How hard could it be?"

**[4:56]** It turns out it is super hard.

**[4:59]** >> [laughter]

**[5:00]** >> Our first technology didn't even work.

**[5:03]** We ran out of money. We nearly ran out of

**[5:04]** money.

**[5:05]** At one point, I had to fly to Japan and

**[5:08]** explain to Sega's CEO

**[5:11]** that the technology they contracted us

**[5:13]** to build would not work.

**[5:16]** Asked to be released from a contract we

**[5:19]** could not complete.

**[5:22]** And then asked

**[5:24]** that they still pay us.

**[5:29]** Without the money, Nvidia would

**[5:31]** vaporize.

**[5:32]** It was embarrassing,

**[5:34]** humiliating,

**[5:36]** and one of the hardest things I have

**[5:37]** ever done.

**[5:39]** And Sega's CEO, Hayao Nakayama,

**[5:42]** said yes.

**[5:45]** I learned early that being CEO is not

**[5:47]** about power,

**[5:49]** but the responsibility

**[5:51]** that comes with keeping the company

**[5:52]** alive.

**[5:54]** And that honesty and humility

**[5:56]** can be met with generosity and kindness,

**[5:59]** even in business.

**[6:02]** We used the money to reset the company.

**[6:04]** And out of desperation, we invented new

**[6:06]** ways of designing chips and computers

**[6:09]** that we still use today.

**[6:11]** For 33 years, Nvidia had reinvented

**[6:15]** itself over and over again, each time

**[6:17]** asking,

**[6:19]** "How hard can it be?"

**[6:21]** And each time learning,

**[6:23]** "It's harder than we thought."

**[6:26]** But through those experiences, we learn

**[6:29]** never to see failure as the opposite of

**[6:32]** success.

**[6:33]** Each failure is just another learning

**[6:36]** moment, a humility moment,

**[6:39]** a character-strengthening moment. The

**[6:41]** resilience forged through setbacks is

**[6:45]** what gives you the strength to go again.

**[6:49]** Today,

**[6:51]** I am one of the longest-serving

**[6:53]** CEOs in technology.

**[6:56]** >> [applause]

**[7:01]** >> Nvidia,

**[7:03]** the body of work I share with 45,000

**[7:07]** extraordinary colleagues,

**[7:09]** is my life's work.

**[7:13]** Now, it's your time to realize your own

**[7:15]** dreams.

**[7:17]** And the timing could not be more

**[7:19]** perfect.

**[7:21]** My career started at the beginning of

**[7:23]** the PC revolution.

**[7:26]** Your career

**[7:27]** starts at the beginning of the AI

**[7:29]** revolution.

**[7:31]** I cannot imagine a more exciting time to

**[7:34]** work, to begin your life's work.

**[7:36]** AI started right here at Carnegie

**[7:39]** Mellon.

**[7:41]** >> [cheering and applause]

**[7:47]** >> I've heard countless AI jokes in the

**[7:49]** last 24 hours here at Carnegie

**[7:51]** [laughter] Mellon.

**[7:52]** Carnegie Mellon is one of the

**[7:54]** true birthplaces

**[7:56]** of artificial intelligence and robotics.

**[7:59]** In the 1950s, researchers here created

**[8:02]** the Logic Theorist, widely recognized

**[8:06]** and considered the first AI computer

**[8:09]** program.

**[8:10]** In 1979, Carnegie Mellon founded the

**[8:13]** Robotics Institute.

**[8:15]** This morning I visited

**[8:17]** >> [cheering]

**[8:18]** >> This morning I visited with Robo Club.

**[8:21]** The first academic institute devoted

**[8:23]** entirely to robotics. Artificial

**[8:26]** intelligence has gone on now

**[8:29]** to reinvent computing completely.

**[8:32]** I have lived through every major

**[8:34]** computing platform shift.

**[8:36]** Mainframes, PCs, the internet, mobile,

**[8:40]** and cloud.

**[8:41]** Each wave

**[8:43]** built on the one before.

**[8:45]** Each

**[8:46]** expanded access, each transformed

**[8:49]** industries and society, but what is

**[8:51]** about to happen now is bigger than

**[8:54]** anything before.

**[8:56]** Computing is undergoing a complete

**[8:58]** reset.

**[8:59]** Not since modern computing was first

**[9:02]** invented.

**[9:04]** For 60 years

**[9:05]** computing worked the same way.

**[9:08]** Humans wrote software.

**[9:10]** Computers executed instructions.

**[9:13]** That paradigm is over.

**[9:16]** Artificial intelligence

**[9:18]** has reinvented computing. From human

**[9:20]** coding to machine learning.

**[9:22]** From software running on CPUs to neural

**[9:24]** networks running on GPUs.

**[9:26]** And from following instructions

**[9:29]** to understanding,

**[9:31]** reasoning, planning, and using tools.

**[9:34]** A new industry has emerged

**[9:38]** to manufacture intelligence at scale.

**[9:43]** Because intelligence is

**[9:45]** foundational to every industry,

**[9:48]** every industry will change.

**[9:52]** For many,

**[9:54]** AI creates uncertainty.

**[9:57]** People see AI writing software,

**[9:58]** generating images, driving cars,

**[10:02]** and naturally wonder

**[10:03]** what happens next.

**[10:05]** Will jobs disappear?

**[10:07]** Will people be left behind?

**[10:10]** Will this technology become too

**[10:11]** powerful?

**[10:14]** Every major technological revolution in

**[10:17]** history

**[10:18]** created fear alongside opportunity.

**[10:22]** When society engages technology openly,

**[10:25]** responsibly, and optimistically,

**[10:28]** we expand human potential

**[10:31]** far more than we diminish it.

**[10:35]** So, first and above all,

**[10:37]** we must be clear-eyed.

**[10:39]** Artificial intelligence,

**[10:42]** the automation of understanding,

**[10:44]** reasoning, and problem-solving,

**[10:46]** is one of the most powerful technologies

**[10:49]** humanity has ever created.

**[10:53]** And like every transformative technology

**[10:55]** before it,

**[10:56]** it will bring both great promise and

**[10:59]** real risks.

**[11:02]** The responsibility of our generation

**[11:06]** is not only to advance AI,

**[11:09]** but to advance it wisely.

**[11:12]** Scientists and engineers have a profound

**[11:14]** responsibility to advance AI

**[11:16]** capabilities and AI safety

**[11:19]** together.

**[11:21]** Policy makers,

**[11:23]** >> [applause]

**[11:27]** [applause]

**[11:29]** >> policy makers have a responsibility to

**[11:32]** create thoughtful guardrails that

**[11:34]** protect society while still allowing

**[11:36]** innovation,

**[11:38]** discovery, and progress to move forward.

**[11:43]** History shows

**[11:44]** that societies that retreat from

**[11:47]** technology

**[11:49]** do not stop progress.

**[11:51]** They only surrender the opportunity to

**[11:54]** shape it

**[11:56]** and to benefit from it.

**[11:58]** So, the answer is not to fear the

**[12:00]** future.

**[12:01]** The answer is to guide it wisely, build

**[12:04]** it responsibly, and ensure that it

**[12:07]** benefits reach as many people as

**[12:09]** possible.

**[12:10]** We should not teach fear of the future.

**[12:13]** We should engage it with optimism,

**[12:16]** responsibility, and ambition.

**[12:19]** Only a fraction of the people in the

**[12:21]** world know how to write software.

**[12:24]** Now,

**[12:25]** anyone can ask AI to build something

**[12:29]** useful.

**[12:30]** A shopkeeper can create a website and

**[12:33]** grow a business.

**[12:34]** A carpenter can design a kitchen

**[12:37]** and offer new services to clients.

**[12:40]** The AI writes the code.

**[12:42]** Everyone is now a programmer.

**[12:47]** For the first time, the power of

**[12:49]** computing and intelligence can truly

**[12:50]** reach everyone and close the technology

**[12:53]** divide. The first time.

**[12:56]** And like electricity and the internet

**[12:57]** before it,

**[12:59]** AI

**[13:00]** will require trillions of dollars of

**[13:03]** infrastructure investment.

**[13:05]** This is the largest technology

**[13:07]** infrastructure buildout in human

**[13:09]** history.

**[13:10]** And a once-in-a-generation opportunity

**[13:14]** to reindustrialize America and restore

**[13:17]** the nation's capacity to build.

**[13:21]** To support AI, America will build chip

**[13:24]** factories, computer factories, data

**[13:26]** centers, and advanced manufacturing

**[13:28]** facilities across the country.

**[13:30]** AI gives America

**[13:33]** the opportunity to build again.

**[13:36]** Electricians, plumbers, ironworkers,

**[13:38]** technicians, builders,

**[13:41]** this is your time.

**[13:44]** AI is not just creating a new computing

**[13:46]** industry, it is creating a new

**[13:48]** industrial era.

**[13:50]** Powering this new infrastructure

**[13:53]** will require enormous amounts of energy.

**[13:57]** But it is also

**[13:59]** driving one of the largest investments

**[14:01]** in energy infrastructure in generations.

**[14:05]** Modernizing the grid, expanding power

**[14:08]** generation,

**[14:09]** and accelerating

**[14:11]** sustainable energy.

**[14:14]** And yes,

**[14:16]** AI will change every job.

**[14:19]** But the task and the purpose of a job

**[14:22]** are not the same.

**[14:24]** Many tasks will be automated. Some jobs

**[14:28]** will disappear.

**[14:29]** But many new jobs and entire new

**[14:32]** industries will be created.

**[14:34]** Software coding tasks are increasingly

**[14:37]** automated, but using AI, software

**[14:40]** engineers can expand the search for

**[14:42]** solutions,

**[14:44]** allowing them to tackle far more

**[14:46]** ambitious challenges.

**[14:48]** Analyzing radiology scans is

**[14:50]** increasingly automated.

**[14:52]** But using AI, radiologists are elevated

**[14:56]** to better diagnose disease and care for

**[14:58]** patients.

**[15:00]** AI does not replace human purpose.

**[15:03]** It amplifies human capability.

**[15:07]** That is why even as AI writes more code

**[15:10]** and analyze more scans,

**[15:12]** demand for software engineers and

**[15:14]** radiologists continue to grow.

**[15:18]** AI

**[15:19]** is not likely to replace you.

**[15:23]** But someone using AI better than you

**[15:27]** might.

**[15:32]** So a good thought experiment is this.

**[15:37]** Do we want our children

**[15:39]** to be supercharged by AI

**[15:42]** or

**[15:43]** be left behind

**[15:45]** by those who are?

**[15:48]** No parent wants their child left behind.

**[15:51]** left behind.

**[15:53]** So let us build AI safely.

**[15:57]** Let us also imagine an optimistic

**[16:00]** future. One our children are excited to

**[16:02]** be part of, inspired to help build.

**[16:06]** So we can and must

**[16:08]** do four things at once.

**[16:11]** Advance safely,

**[16:14]** create thoughtful policies,

**[16:16]** make AI broadly accessible,

**[16:19]** and encourage everyone to engage.

**[16:22]** Everyone should have AI.

**[16:27]** Opportunity should not belong only to

**[16:29]** the people who can code.

**[16:31]** Class of 2026,

**[16:33]** you are entering the world at an

**[16:35]** extraordinary moment.

**[16:37]** A new industry is being born.

**[16:40]** A new era of science and discovery is

**[16:42]** beginning.

**[16:43]** AI is excellent, will accelerate the

**[16:46]** expansion of human knowledge and help

**[16:48]** solve problems once beyond our reach.

**[16:51]** We have the opportunity to close the

**[16:53]** technology divide

**[16:55]** and bring the power of computing and

**[16:57]** intelligence to billions of people for

**[16:58]** the very first time.

**[17:00]** To reindustrialize America and restore

**[17:03]** our capacity to build.

**[17:05]** And to help create a future more

**[17:07]** abundant, more capable, and more hopeful

**[17:10]** than the world you inherited.

**[17:12]** No generation

**[17:14]** has entered the world with more powerful

**[17:17]** tools

**[17:19]** or

**[17:20]** greater opportunities than you.

**[17:23]** We are all standing at the same starting

**[17:25]** line.

**[17:27]** This is your moment to help shape what

**[17:30]** comes next.

**[17:32]** So run, don't walk.

**[17:35]** Carnegie Mellon

**[17:38]** has a motto I love.

**[17:41]** My heart is in the work.

**[17:43]** >> [cheering]

**[17:44]** [applause]

**[17:50]** >> So put your heart in the work.

**[17:54]** Build something worthy of your

**[17:56]** education, your potential,

**[17:59]** and the people who believed in you

**[18:02]** long before the world did.

**[18:05]** Congratulations, Carnegie Mellon Class

**[18:07]** of 2026.

**[18:09]** >> [cheering]

**[18:09]** [applause]

**[18:19]** [applause]