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Eric Schmidt
Eric Schmidt
Chief Executive Officer, Relativity Space
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eric schmidt arizona commencement full unedited speech

📅 May 18, 2026 matthew m. stevick 13 MIN 38 SEGMENTS · 2 SPEAKERS
Credit: University of Arizona 2026 Commencement Speech Full Speech Unedited Eric Schmidt American Tech Leader Tucson, ...

What Eric Schmidt said

Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.

Eric Schmidt, speaking at a university commencement, reflected on the unintended consequences of the internet and social media, which he said polarized democracies and unsettled a generation, contrary to the original optimism. He noted that Time magazine's 2025 Person of the Year was the architects of AI, marking a new transformation. Schmidt urged graduates to engage with AI rather than fear it, emphasizing agency and the need to bring human values like freedom, open debate, equality, and respect into technology development. He highlighted AI's potential in science, citing protein folding and new antibiotics, and mentioned a telescope being built at Steward Observatory. He offered career advice: say yes, build teams, fail quickly, and bet on yourself. He concluded that human judgment and conscience will remain crucial, and that happiness comes from meaning, not joy.

Key takeaways

  1. AI has solved the 50-year-old protein folding problem in months, leading to new antibiotics and cancer treatments.
  2. Say yes to opportunities, build teams, fail quickly, and bet on yourself.
  3. Happiness is derived from meaning, not joy, and human judgment and conscience are essential in AI development.

Numbers and commitments

FigureWhat it refers toTypeAt
1982 Year Schmidt finished his doctorate timeline 0:46
2025 Year Time's Person of the Year was AI architects timeline 2:49
1% Of AI's potential seen so far metric 6:50
50-year-old Protein folding problem solved by AI metric 7:08

Chapters

  1. 0:00Reflections on the past
  2. 2:04Unintended consequences of technology
  3. 2:49AI as the new transformation
  4. 3:29Addressing fear and agency
  5. 5:09Values to bring to AI
  6. 6:50AI's impact on science
  7. 8:36Advice for graduates
  8. 10:16The role of human judgment
  9. 11:53Final reflections on happiness
Host 0:00 ↗
Graduates as they begin their own journeys of discovery. And I'm grateful he accepted our invitation. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Eric Schmidt.

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APA

Schmidt, E. (2026, May 18). eric schmidt arizona commencement full unedited speech [Interview transcript]. matthew m. stevick. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/927361/

MLA

Eric Schmidt. "eric schmidt arizona commencement full unedited speech." matthew m. stevick, 18 May. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/927361/.

BibTeX 
@misc{schmidt2026_927361,
  author       = {Eric Schmidt},
  title        = {eric schmidt arizona commencement full unedited speech},
  howpublished = {Interview transcript, matthew m. stevick. CEOInterviews.AI},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = {may},
  url          = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/927361/},
  note         = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}