On November 23rd, Huang Renxun, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. On that day, he appeared at the degree awarding ceremony and gave a speech, discussing the changes and prospects of artificial intelligence, as well as his message to graduates.
In addition to Huang Renxun, during the degree awarding ceremony, Tony Leung Chiu wai was awarded an honorary doctorate in humanities, while Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry Michael Levitt and Fields Medal winner David Mumford were also awarded honorary doctoral degrees in their respective fields.
Huang Renxun stated that the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology emphasizes innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, and its alumni have founded over 1800 start-up companies. Among them, there are 10 unicorn companies, 14 of which have successfully gone public, and Nvidia has also benefited greatly in this region of China.
Subsequently, Huang Renxun said that today is an extraordinary moment for graduates and also for Nvidia. Artificial intelligence has entered a new era of computing, which will impact every industry in every scientific field, "he said." The software industry is competing to adopt machine learning and generative artificial intelligence, while the hardware industry is competing to modernize traditional computing infrastructure worth trillions of dollars
In Huang Renxun's view, artificial intelligence is driving a scientific revolution, accelerating simulations, real-time control experiments, establishing predictive models, and revolutionizing fields such as drug discovery, genetics, and climate science.
However, he pointed out that these breakthroughs are just the beginning and mentioned two major trends: AI agents and robots.
Regarding AI Agents, Huang Renxun said, "Enterprises and companies around the world are competing to adopt artificial intelligence to accelerate innovation and improve productivity. Soon, companies will have AI Agents working side by side with every team from various organizations such as marketing, sales, supply chain, chip design, software development, etc
When it comes to robots, he said that investment in robots is surging in heavy industry and manufacturing due to new breakthroughs in the field of physics. The basic models of cognitive intelligence have made rapid progress, and the basic models of physical intelligence are also making rapid progress. The era of robots is coming
Finally, Huang Renxun said to the graduates, "Artificial intelligence is undoubtedly the most important technology of this era. I am excited for all of you graduates, and I really hope to start my career at this time. The whole world has been reset, and you are standing on the starting line like everyone else. Industries are being reshaped, and new industries are being created. You now have tools that can advance scientific development in many different fields
It is interesting that when Huang Renxun graduated from undergraduate studies in 1984, perhaps because the first Mac computer was released that year, a new era of personal computers began, and employment in related fields flourished, he once called 1984 the "most suitable year for graduation". Just like the release of the iPhone in 2007 and the years following the iPhone 4, they were both the "most suitable years for graduation". Nowadays, as AI opens up a new century, whether AI can bring more job opportunities remains a hot topic.
In addition, NVIDIA recently released its third quarter financial report for the fiscal year 2025, with total revenue reaching $35.08 billion, a year-on-year increase of 94%; Net profit was $19.309 billion, a year-on-year increase of 109%. Huang Renxun remained confident at the financial report conference, believing that AI will be the sustained driving force for Nvidia's growth, and Nvidia will continue to grow until 2030. Of course, in the context of the increasingly uncertain global economic environment, the company's continued leadership in the industry also faces new challenges from competitors and geopolitics.
The following is the full text of Huang Renxun's speech compiled by the reporter:
Thank you for giving me this extraordinary honor. I am immensely proud to be an honored alumnus of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. I am also delighted to be here today, celebrating this extraordinary milestone with all the graduates and witnessing the beginning of a very important journey in your lives. At the same time, congratulations to all the parents and families who have helped and supported you. Today is your big day, as well as theirs.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is one of the world's top technology universities and a leading institution in artificial intelligence and data science research. You have played an important role in making significant contributions to open science research in China and promoting the development of global artificial intelligence.
Hong Kong universities' research papers on artificial intelligence rank among the top in the global citation rankings. Open research is one of the wonders of modern science and perhaps the ultimate form of global cooperation that we must protect.
Alumni of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have established over 1800 start-up companies, which are currently in operation. Among them, there are 10 unicorn companies, 14 of which have successfully gone public, and Nvidia has also benefited greatly in this region of China.
We arrived in China 25 years ago and have many outstanding Hong Kong University of Science and Technology alumni and long-term colleagues at NVIDIA's design centers located in Hong Kong, Shanghai Pudong, Beijing, and Shenzhen. They helped me establish NVIDIA. They have helped establish China's technology ecosystem from the very beginning, and we are fortunate to witness the formation of China's amazing technology industry.
When I arrived today, my colleagues from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology specifically reminded me to take a photo with the landmark "Turkey" (smiling, a sundial resembling a turkey) of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Now is an extraordinary moment for you to graduate, and also an extraordinary moment for NVIDIA. Artificial intelligence has entered a new era of computing, which will impact every scientific field and industry. We have reinvented every layer of the computing stack, from encoding software rules and logic to data-driven machine learning, from code running on CPUs to neural networks processed on GPUs. The software industry is competing to adopt machine learning and generative artificial intelligence, while the hardware industry is modernizing traditional computing infrastructure worth trillions of dollars.
Artificial intelligence is sparking a scientific revolution. In my speech at the 2018 Supercomputing Conference, I first proposed the integration of principle based methods and artificial intelligence in scientific computing. Since then, artificial intelligence and machine learning have been integrated into almost every field of science. Artificial intelligence is helping to analyze data at an incredible scale, accelerate simulations, control experiments in real-time, establish predictive models, and revolutionize fields ranging from drug discovery, genetics to climate science.
We can study physical systems on a scale that was previously unimaginable, and the transformative impact of artificial intelligence has been recognized at the highest level. Geoffrey Hinton and John Hatfield were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their pioneering work in neural networks. Demis Hassabis, John Jumper, and David Baker were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their groundbreaking advances in protein prediction.
These breakthroughs are just the beginning, as businesses and companies around the world are competing to adopt artificial intelligence to accelerate innovation and improve productivity. Soon, the company will have AI Agents working side by side with each team from various organizations such as marketing, sales, supply chain, chip design, software development, and more.
In heavy industry and manufacturing, investment in robots is surging, triggered by new breakthroughs in physical artificial intelligence. As we can see, the basic models of cognitive intelligence are developing rapidly, the basic models of physical intelligence are advancing rapidly, and the era of robots is coming soon.
As artificial intelligence changes every industry, a new industry will emerge. This new industry will be dedicated to producing and generating artificial intelligence, just like the AC power plants that emerged during the last industrial revolution and the rise of the power industry. Artificial intelligence factories and the emergence of digital intelligence will emerge in the era of artificial intelligence.
25 years after NVIDIA created the first GPU, we reinvented computing and sparked a new industrial revolution. Artificial intelligence is undoubtedly the most important technology of our time, and perhaps the most important technology in history. I am thrilled to see so much energy focused on advancing artificial intelligence science, as well as using artificial intelligence to advance science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and throughout China.
I am excited for all of you graduates, and I really wish I could start my career at this time. The whole world has been reset, you are standing on the starting line like everyone else, industries are being reshaped, and new industries are being created. You now have tools that can advance scientific development in many different fields.
The biggest challenge we face in this era, seemingly insurmountable in the past, suddenly seems to have become solvable.
Congratulations on your graduation. Congratulations on reaching a new milestone, and I look forward to many of you joining NVIDIA one day. Thank you again for giving me this great honor and recognition. Thank you for acknowledging the lifelong efforts of many of us at NVIDIA. At the same time, please help me find the 'turkey' (a landmark of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology).