NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang Encourages Caltech Graduates to Embrace Unconventional Paths

NVIDIA
founder
and
CEO
Jensen
Huang
delivered
an
inspiring
commencement
address
to
Caltech
graduates
on
Friday,
urging
them
to
pursue
their
craft
with
dedication
and
resilience,
and
to
view
setbacks
as
new
opportunities.
This
message
was
conveyed
during
the
ceremony
held
in
Pasadena,
California,
according
to
the

NVIDIA
Blog.

Encouraging
Unconventional
Thinking

Huang,
trading
his
signature
leather
jacket
for
black
and
yellow
academic
regalia,
encouraged
the
nearly
600
graduates
to
believe
in
something
unconventional
and
unexplored,
but
also
to
ensure
their
pursuits
are
informed
and
reasoned.
“You
may
find
your
GPU.
You
may
find
your
CUDA.
You
may
find
your
generative
AI.
You
may
find
your
NVIDIA,”
he
said.

The
Evolution
of
Computing

Addressing
the
graduates,
Huang
recounted
the
decades-long
evolution
of
the
computing
industry,
emphasizing
the
pivotal
moment
of
AI
transformation.
“Computers
today
are
the
single
most
important
instrument
of
knowledge,
and
it’s
foundational
to
every
single
industry
in
every
field
of
science,”
he
noted.
Huang
stressed
the
importance
of
understanding
current
developments
as
they
enter
the
industry.

NVIDIA’s
Deep
Learning
Bet

Huang
shared
how
over
a
decade
ago,
NVIDIA,
then
a
small
company,
bet
on
deep
learning,
investing
billions
of
dollars
and
years
of
engineering
resources
to
reinvent
every
computing
layer.
“No
one
knew
how
far
deep
learning
could
scale,
and
if
we
didn’t
build
it,
we’d
never
know,”
he
remarked,
referencing
the
famous
line
from

Field
of
Dreams:
“If
we
don’t
build
it,
they
can’t
come.”

Robotics
and
Future
Opportunities

Looking
to
the
future,
Huang
highlighted
robotics
as
the
next
wave
of
AI,
a
field
where
NVIDIA’s
journey
was
marked
by
a
series
of
setbacks.
He
reflected
on
a
period
when
NVIDIA
faced
significant
challenges,
pushing
the
company
to
seek
out
untapped
areas
—
what
he
refers
to
as
“zero-billion-dollar
markets.”

“With
no
more
markets
to
turn
to,
we
decided
to
build
something
where
we
are
sure
there
are
no
customers,”
Huang
said.
This
approach
led
NVIDIA
to
build
the
first
robotics
computer,
processing
a
deep
learning
algorithm,
which
has
since
paved
the
way
for
the
company’s
current
AI
advancements.

Resilience
and
Agility

Huang
emphasized
resilience
and
agility
as
essential
traits
that
strengthen
character.
“One
setback
after
another,
we
shook
it
off
and
skated
to
the
next
opportunity.
Each
time,
we
gain
skills
and
strengthen
our
character,”
he
said.
“No
setback
that
comes
our
way
doesn’t
look
like
an
opportunity
these
days.”

He
also
referenced
a
personal
experience
from
his
travels
in
Japan,
where
observing
a
gardener’s
dedication
to
Kyoto’s
famous
moss
garden
taught
him
the
value
of
prioritizing
one’s
life’s
work.

“Prioritize
your
life,”
Huang
concluded,
“and
you
will
have
plenty
of
time
to
do
the
important
things.”

Image
source:
Shutterstock