**Renowned AI Expert Fei-Fei Li's CMU Graduation Speech: Don't Just Watch the AI Era, Build It with Your Own Hands**

Video Title: 2026 CMU Commencement Keynote Speaker: Jensen Huang
Video Author: Carnegie Mellon University
Translation: peggy

Editor's Note: In this speech to the Carnegie Mellon University Class of 2026 graduates, Jensen Huang did not portray AI as just a technological wave, but instead placed it in a broader context of personal destiny, industry cycles, and national capability rebuilding.

Starting from his own immigrant experience, early struggles, the initial failure and reboot of founding NVIDIA, he attempted to illustrate a core insight: what truly changes one's life is not a path to certain success, but the ability to embrace responsibility in uncertainty, learn from failures, and restart. NVIDIA's growth was also built on a series of miscalculations of "how hard can this be" and recreations.

Jensen Huang's definition of the AI revolution goes beyond just "tool enhancement." In his view, AI is resetting computing itself: shifting from human-written programs and computer-executed instructions to machines understanding, reasoning, planning, and utilizing tools. It will not only transform the software industry but also reshape the organization of manufacturing, energy, healthcare, education, and nearly every industry.

This is also the most significant reality pointed out in this speech: AI is not only creating a new computing industry but is opening up a new industrial era. Chip factories, data centers, the power grid, energy systems, advanced manufacturing will together form the next round of technological infrastructure development. For the United States, this means an opportunity for a new industrialization; for the graduates, it signifies the starting point of their careers, perfectly positioned at the beginning of a new industrial cycle.

However, Jensen Huang does not shy away from the uncertainty brought by AI. He acknowledges that AI will automate many tasks and eliminate some jobs. But he differentiates between "tasks" and "purpose": AI can replace parts of labor processes but not the human ability to ask questions, define goals, and take responsibility. The real risk is not AI replacing people but those who do not use AI falling behind those who do.

Just as Carnegie Mellon's motto says, "My heart is in the work." In an era where intelligence is being redefined and industries are being reorganized, Jensen Huang's advice to the graduates can also be summarized in one sentence: Do not stand on the sidelines of the future, invest your heart in it, and then build it with your own hands.

The original text is as follows:

President, members of the Board, esteemed faculty, distinguished guests, proud parents and families, and most importantly—Carnegie Mellon University's Class of 2026:

Thank you for bestowing upon me this extraordinary honor.

Coming to Carnegie Mellon University has been deeply meaningful to me. It is one of the world's greatest institutions and a place where true "inventing the future" happens.

Today is a day of pride and joy, a day where your dreams come true. But this day is not just yours. Your family, teachers, mentors, and friends have supported you every step of the way to get you here. Before we talk about the future, take a moment to thank them. Today is their day too.

Graduates, please stand up. Stand up with me. Come on, everyone.

And especially, turn to your mothers and wish them a Happy Mother's Day. For you, this is just another step in life; but for them, it's a moment of their dreams coming true.

Please be seated. CMU students, truly like robots, only capable of following one command at a time (laughs).

Alright, everyone, focus. I have something important to tell you. Being able to see you graduate from one of the world's greatest institutions is also their moment. My parents have always been immensely proud of me. My journey is their journey too.

I am the result of their dreams coming true. And their dreams are the American Dream.

Like many here today, I am a first-generation immigrant. My father had a dream: to raise his family in America. When I was 9, he brought me and my brother to the U.S. We ended up at a Baptist boarding school in Oneida, Kentucky. It was a small town in a coal-mining area with only a few hundred people.

Two years later, my parents left everything behind to come join us in America. They had almost nothing. My father was a chemical engineer, and my mother worked as a maid at a Catholic school. She woke me up at 4 a.m. every day to deliver newspapers. Later, my brother helped me get a dishwashing job at Denny's. For me at the time, that was a significant career advancement.

This is my vision of America: not easy, but full of opportunities. It's not a guarantee but a chance. My parents came here because they believed that America could give their children a chance. How could we not have a romantic view of America?

Later, I went to Oregon State University. At 17, I met my wife, Lori. I was the youngest kid in school, and we were lab partners in our sophomore year. She was 19, an "older woman." I beat out 250 other guys in the class and won her heart. Today, we've been married for 40 years. We have two amazing kids, both now working at NVIDIA.

When I was 30, I co-founded NVIDIA with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem. They were two outstanding computer scientists. We set out to create a new kind of computer, one that could tackle problems ordinary computers couldn't solve. We had no clue how to start a company, no idea how to raise funds, and no concept of how to run NVIDIA.

At the time, I just thought, "How hard could it be?"

It turned out, it was really hard. Our initial technology didn't even work.

We were running out of money. Once, I had to fly to Japan to explain to Sega's CEO that the technology we had contracted to develop together was not viable. I asked them to release us from the unworkable deal and then to pay us anyhow. Without that money, NVIDIA would have gone under.

It was an embarrassing, humiliating moment and one of the toughest things I've ever had to do in my life.

And the CEO of Sega agreed.

Early on, I understood being a CEO didn't mean power; it meant responsibility — the responsibility to keep the company alive. I also learned that even in the business world, honesty and humility could lead to generosity and goodwill.

We restarted the company with that money. And it was in that crucible that we invented new chips and computer design techniques that are still in use today.

For 33 years, NVIDIA has reinvented itself time and time again. Each time, we asked, "How hard could it be?" And each time, we learned, "Harder than we thought."

But it was in these experiences that we learned never to see failure as the opposite of success. Each failure was merely a learning moment, a moment to remain humble, a moment to strengthen character. The resilience forged through setbacks is what gives you the strength to persevere.

Today, I am one of the longest-serving CEOs in the tech industry. The legacy of NVIDIA and the accomplishments of me and 45,000 outstanding colleagues are the work of my lifetime.

Now it's your turn to pursue your dreams. And the timing couldn't be better.

My career began at the dawn of the PC revolution. Yours begins at the dawn of the AI revolution. I can't imagine a more thrilling or fitting moment to embark on your life's work.

AI originated right here at Carnegie Mellon. In the past 24 hours, I've heard countless AI jokes at Carnegie Mellon. Carnegie Mellon is one of the true birthplaces of artificial intelligence and robotics technology. In the 1950s, researchers here created the Logic Theorist, widely considered to be the first AI computer program.

In 1979, Carnegie Mellon founded the Robotics Institute. This morning, I visited some robotics projects. The Robotics Institute was the first academic institution dedicated entirely to robotics technology.

Today, artificial intelligence has begun to fundamentally reshape computing.

I've lived through every major computing platform shift: mainframes, personal computers, the internet, mobile internet, and cloud computing. Each wave has built on the last. Each has expanded the reach of technology. Each has changed industries and societies.

But what's about to happen is bigger than any of them.

Computing is undergoing a complete reset. There has never been a change like this since modern computing was invented. For the past 60 years, the operation of computing has stayed essentially the same: humans write software, computers execute instructions. That paradigm is now over.

Artificial intelligence has reinvented computing. From human programming to machine learning; from software running on CPUs to neural networks running on GPUs; from executing instructions to understanding, inferring, planning, and acting. A new industry that can manufacture intelligence at scale is emerging. Because intelligence is the foundation of all industries. Every industry will be transformed.

For many, AI brings uncertainty. People see AI writing software, generating images, driving cars, and naturally ask: what's next? Will jobs disappear? Will people be left behind? Will this technology become too powerful? Every major technological revolution in history has brought both fear and opportunity.

When society engages with technological progress in an open, responsible, and optimistic way, the extent to which we enhance human potential far outweighs how much we diminish it. So, first and foremost, we must stay vigilant.

Artificial intelligence, the automation of human understanding, reasoning, and problem-solving, is one of the most powerful technologies humans have ever created. Like all transformative technologies before it, it holds both immense hope and real risk.

Our generation's responsibility is not just to push forward AI but to push forward AI wisely. Scientists and engineers bear a profound responsibility: to advance both AI's capabilities and AI's safety. Policymakers also have a responsibility to set up prudent guardrails that protect society while allowing innovation, discovery, and progress to continue.

History has shown that societies that shrink back from technology cannot stop progress. They merely give up the opportunity to shape and benefit from progress. So, the answer is not to fear the future. The answer is to wisely guide the future, responsibly build the future, and ensure that it benefits as many people as possible.

We should not teach people to fear the future. We should engage in the future with optimism, responsibility, and ambition. Only a small fraction of people in the world knew how to write software.

But now, anyone can ask AI to help them build something useful. A shopkeeper can create a website to grow their business. A carpenter can design a kitchen to offer new services to clients. The code is written by AI.

Now, everyone is a programmer.

For the first time, the power of computing and intelligence can truly reach everyone and bridge the technology divide. Like the changes brought by electricity and the internet, AI will require trillions of dollars in infrastructure investment. It is the largest-scale technological infrastructure construction in human history and a once-in-a-generation opportunity: to reindustrialize America, to restore the nation's building capacity.

To support AI, the United States will build chip factories, computer factories, data centers, and advanced manufacturing facilities across the country. AI has given America the opportunity to rebuild. Electricians, plumbers, steelworkers, technicians, construction workers—this is your time.

AI is not just creating a new computing industry. It is creating a new industrial era. Supporting these new infrastructures requires a massive energy supply. But it is also driving one of the largest-scale energy infrastructure investments in decades: modernizing the power grid, expanding power production, and accelerating the development of sustainable energy.

Yes, AI will change every job. But the task of a job and the purpose of a job are not the same thing.

Many tasks will be automated. Some jobs will disappear. But many new jobs, and entirely new industries, will also be created.

Software coding tasks are increasingly being automated. But with AI, software engineers can expand the scope of problems they tackle, taking on more ambitious challenges.

Radiology imaging analysis is increasingly being automated. But with AI, radiologists will be elevated to a new level, better diagnosing diseases and caring for patients.

AI will not replace humans; it will amplify human capabilities. That's why, even as AI writes more code, analyzes more scan images, the demand for software engineers and radiologists continues to grow.

AI is unlikely to replace you. But those who are more adept at using AI than you may well replace you.

So, a good thought experiment is this: Do we want our children to be empowered by AI, or do we want them to be left behind by those who are empowered by AI? No parent would want their child to be left behind.

Therefore, let us build AI responsibly. And let us also imagine an optimistic future: a future that our children will be excited to be part of and encouraged to help shape.

Thus, we can, and must, do four things at once: advance technology responsibly; develop prudent policies; ensure broad access to AI; and encourage everyone to participate.

Everyone should have AI. Opportunity should not be the sole province of those who can code.

Graduates of 2026, you are entering an extraordinary moment.

A new industry is being born. A new era of science and discovery is dawning.

AI will accelerate the expansion of human knowledge, helping us solve once-unthinkable problems. We have an opportunity to bridge the tech divide, enabling billions for the first time to truly harness the power of computation and intelligence. We have an opportunity to reindustrialize America, restore our ability to make things, and help create a future more prosperous, more powerful, and more hopeful than the world you inherit.

No generation before you has entered the world with more powerful tools at their disposal, and no generation has had greater opportunity.

We all stand on the same starting line.

This is your moment to shape what comes next. So run, don't walk.

Carnegie Mellon has a motto I particularly like: "My heart is in the work."

So, put your heart into your work. Create something that is worthy of your education, worthy of your potential, and worthy of those who believed in you long before the world did.

Congratulations to the Carnegie Mellon University Class of 2026.

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