黄仁勋CMU演讲：AI时代，不要旁观，去建造

Video Title: 2026 CMU Commencement Keynote Speaker: Jensen Huang

Video Author: Carnegie Mellon University

Compiled by: Peggy

Editor's Note: In this speech to Carnegie Mellon University's Class of 2026, Jensen Huang does not portray AI as a mere technological wave. Instead, he frames it within a broader understanding of individual destiny, industrial cycles, and the rebuilding of national capabilities.

Beginning with his immigrant experience, early jobs, and the failures and reinventions of founding NVIDIA, he attempts to convey a core thesis: What truly changes a life is not a deterministic path to success, but the ability to continuously take responsibility, learn from failure, and start over amidst uncertainty. NVIDIA's growth itself is built upon a series of miscalculations and recreations, each starting with the thought, "How hard can it be?"

Huang's definition of the AI revolution goes beyond a mere "tool upgrade." In his view, AI is resetting computing itself: moving from humans writing programs and computers executing instructions to machines understanding, reasoning, planning, and using tools. It will transform not just the software industry, but also the organizational structures of manufacturing, energy, healthcare, education, and virtually every other sector.

This is the most important practical implication of the speech: AI is not just creating a new computing industry; it is ushering in a new industrial era. Chip factories, data centers, power grids, energy systems, and advanced manufacturing will collectively form the next wave of technological infrastructure. For the United States, this represents an opportunity for reindustrialization; for graduates, it means their careers are beginning at the dawn of a new industrial cycle.

However, Huang did not shy away from the uncertainties brought by AI. He acknowledged that AI will automate many tasks and cause some jobs to disappear. But he distinguishes between "tasks" and "purpose": AI can replace parts of a labor process, but it cannot replace the human ability to ask questions, define goals, and take responsibility. The real risk is not AI replacing people, but people who don't know how to use AI being left behind by those who do.

As CMU's motto says, "My heart is in the work." In an era where intelligence is being redefined and industries reorganized, Huang's advice to graduates can be summed up in one sentence: Don't spectate the future. Put your heart into it, and then build it yourself.

The following is the original text:

President, Board of Trustees, esteemed faculty, distinguished guests, proud parents and families, and most importantly – the Carnegie Mellon University Class of 2026:

Thank you for granting me this extraordinary honor.

Being here at Carnegie Mellon University means a great deal to me. It is one of the greatest universities in the world, and one of the few places that truly "invents the future."

Today is a day of pride and joy, a day your dreams have come true. But this day does not belong solely to you. Your families, teachers, mentors, and friends have supported you every step of the way. Before we talk about the future, please thank them. This day belongs to them too.

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

Especially, please 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 dream come true.

Please sit down. CMU students, you're like robots, executing only one instruction at a time (laughter).

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

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

Like many of you here, I am a first-generation immigrant. My father had a dream: to raise his family in America. When I was nine years old, he sent my older brother and me to the United States. We ended up at a Baptist boarding school in Oneida, Kentucky. It was in a coal mining area, a small town of a few hundred people.

Two years later, my parents gave up everything to join us in America. They arrived with almost nothing. My father was a chemical engineer, and my mother worked as a maid in a Catholic school. She would wake me up at 4 AM to deliver newspapers. Later, my brother helped me get a job washing dishes at Denny's. At the time, it felt like a major career promotion for me.

That's how I saw America: not easy, but full of opportunity. It wasn't a guarantee, it was a chance. My parents came here because they believed America could offer their children a chance. How could we not be romantically sentimental about America?

Later, I attended Oregon State University. I met my wife, Lori, when I was 17. I was the youngest kid in school, and we were lab partners in a sophomore class. She was 19, an "older woman." I beat out the other 250 guys in the class and won her heart. We've now been married for 40 years. We have two wonderful children, who both now work at NVIDIA.

At age 30, I co-founded NVIDIA with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, two brilliant computer scientists. We wanted to build a new kind of computer, one that could solve problems ordinary computers couldn't. We had absolutely no idea how to start a company, how to raise capital, or how to run NVIDIA.

I just thought: How hard could it be?

As it turned out, incredibly hard. Our very first technology didn't even work.

We nearly ran out of money. At one point, I had to fly to Japan to explain to the CEO of Sega that the technology they had contracted us to develop wouldn't work. I asked him to cancel the contract we couldn't fulfill, and then begged him to still pay us. If we hadn't gotten that money, NVIDIA would have gone under.

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

And the CEO of Sega agreed.

I learned very early that being a CEO isn't about power; it's about responsibility – the responsibility to keep the company alive. I also learned that even in the business world, honesty and humility can be met with generosity and goodwill.

We used that money to restart the company. It was from that desperate situation that we invented new approaches to chip and computer design that are still used today.

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

But it is in these experiences that we learned never to see failure as the opposite of success. Every failure is just a moment to learn, a moment to stay humble, a moment to build character. The resilience forged by setbacks gives you the strength to start again.

Today, I am one of the longest-serving CEOs in the tech industry. NVIDIA, and what I have built alongside 45,000 brilliant colleagues, is my life's work.

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

My career began at the dawn of the PC revolution. Your careers are beginning at the dawn of the AI revolution. I cannot imagine a more exciting time, a better time to start your life's work.

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

In 1979, CMU founded the Robotics Institute. I visited some robotics projects this morning. The Robotics Institute was the first academic institution entirely dedicated to robotics.

Today, AI has begun to completely reshape computing.

I have personally witnessed every major computing platform shift: mainframes, PCs, the internet, mobile, and cloud. Each wave built upon the last. Each expanded accessibility. Each transformed industries and society.

But what's coming next is bigger than anything before.

Computing is undergoing a complete reset. Nothing like this has happened since modern computing was invented. For the past 60 years, the way computing worked barely changed: humans write software, computers execute instructions. That paradigm is over.

AI 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, reasoning, planning, and using tools. A new industry capable of manufacturing intelligence at scale is emerging. Because intelligence is the foundation of every industry. Every sector will be transformed.

For many, AI brings uncertainty. People see AI writing software, generating images, and driving cars, and naturally ask: What happens 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 technology openly, responsibly, and optimistically, we expand human potential far more than we diminish it. So, first and foremost, we must stay awake.

Artificial intelligence – the automation of understanding, reasoning, and problem-solving – is one of the most powerful technologies humanity has ever created. Like all transformative technologies before it, it brings both immense promise and real risk.

The responsibility of our generation is not just to advance AI, but to advance it wisely. Scientists and engineers bear a profound responsibility: to advance both AI's capabilities and AI's safety. Policymakers also have a responsibility to build thoughtful guardrails, protecting society while allowing innovation, discovery, and progress to continue.

History shows that societies that retreat from technology do not stop progress. They simply forfeit the opportunity to shape it and benefit from it. So, the answer is not to fear the future. The answer is to guide the future wisely, build it responsibly, and ensure it benefits as many people as possible.

We shouldn't teach people to fear the future. We should engage it with optimism, responsibility, and ambition. Only a small fraction of the world knows how to write software.

But now, anyone can ask an 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, bridging the technological divide. Like electricity and the internet before it, AI will require trillions of dollars in infrastructure investment. This is the largest technology infrastructure buildout in human history, and a generational opportunity: to reindustrialize America and restore the nation's ability to build.

To support AI, America will build chip factories, computer factories, data centers, and advanced manufacturing facilities across the country. AI gives America a chance to build again. 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 age. Powering this new infrastructure requires immense energy supply. But it is also driving one of the largest energy infrastructure investments in decades: modernizing the grid, expanding power generation, and accelerating the development of sustainable energy.

Yes, AI will change every job. But the tasks 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 be created.

Software coding tasks are being increasingly automated. But with AI, software engineers can expand their search for solutions, tackling more ambitious problems.

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

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

AI probably won't replace you. But a person who is better at using AI than you probably will replace you.

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

So, let us build AI safely. And, let us also imagine an optimistic future: a future our children want to be a part of and are inspired to co-create.

Therefore, we can, and must, do four things simultaneously: Advance technology safely, establish sensible policy, make AI widely accessible, and encourage everyone to participate.

Everyone should have AI. Opportunity should not only belong to those who can write code.

Class of 2026, you are entering an extraordinary time.

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

AI will accelerate the expansion of human knowledge, helping us solve problems once thought out of reach. We have the opportunity to bridge the technological divide, giving billions of people true access to the power of computing and intelligence for the first time. We have the opportunity to reindustrialize America, restore our ability to build, and help create a future more prosperous, powerful, and hopeful than the world you inherited.

No generation has ever entered the world with more powerful tools, and no generation has ever had a greater opportunity.

We all stand at the same starting line.

This is your time to shape what happens next. So, run. Don't walk.

Carnegie Mellon has a motto I deeply admire: "My heart is in the work."

So, put your hearts into your work. Create something worthy of your education, worthy of your potential, and worthy of the people who believed in you long before the world did.

Congratulations, Carnegie Mellon University Class of 2026.

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