BEIJING (Realist English). If Jensen Huang were graduating today, the Nvidia CEO says he would pivot toward the physical sciences rather than software — a shift in focus he believes aligns with the future of technological innovation.
During a media event in Beijing on Wednesday, Huang was asked what he would pursue if he were a 22-year-old graduate in 2025, with the same ambition he had in the early 1990s.
“For the young, 20-year-old Jensen, that’s graduated now, he probably would have chosen more of the physical sciences than the software sciences,” Huang replied, noting that he had actually finished college at 20.
Physical science broadly encompasses disciplines such as physics, chemistry, astronomy, and earth sciences, in contrast to life sciences. Huang, who earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Oregon State University in 1984 and later a master’s from Stanford in 1992, said his early academic choices were shaped by the computing landscape of his time.
Just a year after completing his graduate studies, Huang co-founded Nvidia in April 1993 alongside Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, during a meeting at a Denny’s restaurant in San Jose. Under his leadership, Nvidia has evolved from a graphics chip designer into a central player in AI and high-performance computing — becoming the world’s most valuable company last week with a market capitalization surpassing $4 trillion.
Huang’s comments come as students and researchers increasingly look to interdisciplinary fields that merge hardware, software, and scientific modeling — areas where physical sciences are regaining prominence in next-generation innovation.
