Eric Schmidt Booed at Arizona Commencement Over AI
SkimNews Take
The booing of AI during a commencement speech suggests students perceive AI as a disruptive force in their job market, rather than a tool for future prosperity.
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- Eric Schmidt delivered the University of Arizona commencement address on Friday and was repeatedly booed by attendees as his speech turned to AI, drowning out his remarks.
- Schmidt acknowledged the graduates' anxiety, calling fears that "the machines are coming, that the jobs are evaporating" "rational," per Business Insider, while visibly squirming and asking the crowd to let him finish.
- Some graduates also booed Schmidt over sexual assault allegations made against him last year, according to the source.
- Schmidt advised graduates, "When someone offers you a seat on the rocketship, you do not ask which seat, you just get on" — a sentiment consistent with his calling AI "underhyped" just last year.
- The confrontation highlights a widening gap between Silicon Valley's AI evangelism and public sentiment, with the source noting that companies continue forcing AI into products despite growing opposition.
Why it matters: Schmidt — one of tech's most prominent AI boosters — couldn't even finish his pitch to a graduating class entering a job market already being reshaped by the technology he champions. The dual backlash, over both AI cheerleading and unresolved sexual assault allegations from last year, crystallizes how badly Silicon Valley's leadership has lost credibility with the very workers and consumers their products target.
