Public transcript

The University of Arizona 2026 Commencement Speech by Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google.

By: Steven Reff
Length: 13 min
Language: English
Text from: the video's captions
Transcribed: 14 October 2026

Read the full transcript Open on YouTube

Notes in English.

Summary

Eric Schmidt delivers the University of Arizona 2026 commencement address, reflecting on the personal computer era's optimism and its unintended consequences, then turning to artificial intelligence. He tells graduates that fear about the future should not make them surrender their agency, and that the real question is whether they will help shape AI. He closes with practical advice — say yes, build a team, fail fast, bet on yourself — and a reflection that happiness comes from meaning.

Key points

Eric Schmidt recalls 1982, when Time magazine named the personal computer its first-ever non-human person of the year.
Schmidt says the tools that connected people also isolated them, rewarded outrage, and polarized democracies, which was never the plan.
Time magazine's 2025 person of the year was the architects of artificial intelligence, signaling a transformation larger and faster than anything before.
Schmidt tells graduates that treating the future as already decided means surrendering their agency, and the real question is whether they will help shape AI.
AI has already solved the 50-year-old protein folding problem in months and is accelerating science and medicine.
His advice: find a way to say yes, build a team, fail quickly and pivot without shame, and bet on yourself.
Even as AI models grow more powerful, humans bring the judgment, conscience, and moral sense of what is worth building.
Schmidt closes by saying happiness is derived from meaning in work, relationships, and purpose.

Questions it answers

00:38The PC era and its optimism

What does Schmidt remember about the personal computer era?

Schmidt recalls finishing his doctorate in 1982 when Time named the personal computer person of the year, and the optimism that connecting everyone would democratize knowledge and lift people out of poverty.

1982 was Time's first non-human person of the year
The era's optimism held that universal connectivity would be an unambiguous good

01:45Unintended consequences

What went wrong with the connected world the tech industry built?

The same tools that connected people also isolated them, rewarded outrage, and degraded the public square. No one planned to polarize democracies, but it happened.

Platforms amplified our worst instincts
Polarization was an unintended consequence, not a plan

03:28Fear versus agency

How should graduates respond to fear about AI and the future?

He says treating the future as already decided surrenders your agency. The future gets built by people like the graduates, and the question is whether they will help shape AI.

Fear is rational but amplified by engagement algorithms
Be in the room where AI decisions are made

05:09Values to bring to the room

What values should guide how AI is built?

They should choose freedom, open debate, equality, diversity of perspectives including immigrants, and respect for people on the other side of an argument.

America is at its best when ambitious people want to come here
AI will optimize for what we tell it to optimize for

06:47AI accelerating science

What is AI already accomplishing in science and medicine?

AI is designing molecules, running simulations, and solved the 50-year-old protein folding problem in months. The next antibiotics, cancer treatments, and clean energy materials will come from this work.

Only about 1% of what AI will bring has been seen
Steward Observatory in Tucson is building a telescope more powerful than Hubble

08:13Advice to graduates

What four pieces of advice does Schmidt give?

Say yes to invitations and projects beyond your reach; build a team; fail quickly and pivot without shame; and bet on yourself and your values.

Bill Campbell: "Work the team, then work the problem"
The frontier exists only at the edge of what may not work

10:17What you bring to AI

What do humans contribute as AI models grow more powerful?

Humans bring the judgment, conscience, and moral sense of what is worth building. Graduates will decide which questions to ask, what to design, and what kind of country we will be.

Your humanity is not a handicap
Builders will always outrun bystanders

11:37Closing reflection on meaning

What does Schmidt say about happiness at the end?

He says happiness is derived from meaning in work, relationships, place in the world, and purpose, and that in 50 years they will care about friends and mentors, not grades and titles.

Find meaning and the rest takes care of itself
The future is not yet finished; it is the graduates' turn to shape it

Notes

The personal computer era

Schmidt graduated with his doctorate in 1982, the year Time magazine named the personal computer as its first-ever non-human person of the year.
Over four decades, those machines became laptops, smartphones, the internet, social media, and the cloud.
The optimism of that era held that connecting everyone to each other and to the world's information would be an unambiguous good.

Unintended consequences

The same tools that connect us also isolate us; platforms rewarded outrage, amplified our worst instincts, and coarsened how we speak to each other.
No one set out to build a technology that would polarize democracies, but it happened.
In December 2025, Time magazine named the architects of artificial intelligence as person of the year.

Fear and agency

Schmidt acknowledges the graduates' fear about jobs, climate, politics, and the future, amplified by algorithms that profit from fear and anxiety.
To speak of the future as already decided is to surrender your agency; the future gets built in laboratories, dormitories, startups, classrooms, and legislatures.
The question is not whether AI will shape the world, but whether you will help shape AI.

AI and science

AI is designing new molecules, running simulations, and identifying genomic patterns no human team could find in a lifetime.
AI solved the 50-year-old protein folding problem in a matter of months; future antibiotics, cancer treatments, and clean energy materials will come from this work.
He highlights Dr. Januzi and the Steward Observatory team in Tucson building a telescope more powerful than Hubble.

Advice for graduates

1. Find a way to say yes — to invitations, new cities, and projects beyond your reach.

2. Build a team — his coach Bill Campbell said, "Work the team, then work the problem."

3. Fail quickly and pivot without shame — if everything is successful, you are not pushing hard enough.

4. Bet on yourself — trust your intuition; it is the most valuable signal you possess.

What you bring

As models grow more powerful, humans bring the judgment, conscience, perspective, and moral sense of what is worth building.
Protect what makes you human in the concrete decisions about what you build, how, and for whom.
Happiness is not the same as joy; happiness is derived from meaning in work, relationships, place in the world, and purpose.

Text from the video's own captions. Summary and notes written by AI from the transcript, so check anything important against the recording.