Latest news with #StanfordUniversity


Boston Globe
a day ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
How China hounds pro-democracy activists in Boston
'It was heart-wrenching to see my aging parents suffer from this targeted repression,' Hui told me. 'I felt guilty for bringing this on them.' Advertisement Hui's case is an example of what the FBI describes as transnational repression — when authoritarian governments such as those in Russia, Iran, Belarus, and China hire people to intimidate, harass, or spy on dissidents in the United States. China's surveillance network is considered one of the an independent network of hundreds of reporters around the world, found evidence that in recent years Beijing had targeted dissidents like Hui in 23 countries. Advertisement For years, the United States was a global leader in countering this kind of repression on American soil. But that commitment appears to be wavering under the Trump administration. In February, the Justice Department quietly Glenn Tiffert, a distinguished research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution who focuses on Beijing's influence operations, said the administration's actions signal that it does not consider transnational repression a priority. 'It may make people who are acting as foreign agents even bolder,' he said. The administration's freeze of Advertisement 'The Chinese government prefers the plausible deniability of recruiting people who appear to be ordinary citizens and residents, as they can present themselves as simply expressing personal opinions,' Tiffert said. Those recruits observe and report back to Beijing about the activities of dissidents in the United States — and sometimes harass them. Joey Siu is another Hong Kong pro-democracy activist who fled to the United States in 2020 and now faces an arrest warrant back home. Since that warrant was issued in 2023, Siu, who lives in exile in Washington, D.C., has received dozens of threatening emails and social media messages. ' I tried reporting them, blocking them, but it just wouldn't stop,' she said. Messages sent to Joey Siu in December of 2023 after Hong Kong's national security police placed arrest warrants for five overseas activists, placing HK$1 million bounties on their heads. Handout American prosecutors argued that Liang Litang, a 65-year-old naturalized American from China, worked as an agent of the Chinese government in the Boston area. He was In August 2019, Hui, then an Emerson College student, organized a rally in downtown Boston to support efforts in Hong Kong to fight a bill that would have made it easier to extradite critics of the Chinese government in Hong Kong to China. Little did she know that Liang was observing the rally. Court documents later showed that he exchanged at least five calls with two Chinese officials during the event and took photographs of participants, including her. 'I didn't even notice him at the rally,' Hui told me. Liang, it turns out, was also being watched by US officials. In 2023, he was arrested on charges of Advertisement Federal charging documents alleged that Liang acted as an agent of the Chinese government for years. He cofounded the New England Alliance for the Peaceful Unification of China, whose mission was to make Taiwan part of China. He organized events at the direction of the Chinese government, including a counterprotest against pro-democracy dissidents; met several times with Chinese officials; and hung Chinese flags in Boston's Chinatown, court records alleged. Perhaps more significantly, he provided photos and videos of pro-democracy dissidents in Boston to Chinese officials based in New York. He also identified potential recruits to a Chinese man listed in Liang's contacts under 'DC Ministry of Public Security Shanghai,' according to In February, a federal jury The US attorney's office in Boston declined to comment on the verdict. Legal experts say there is no clear legal definition of 'acting as a foreign agent,' making it hard for juries to hold individuals accountable. Still, a few cases have led to convictions. One of those involved a Berklee School of Music student who was convicted of Liang did not respond to a request for comment for this article. During the trial, his lawyer, Derege Demissie, argued that the federal government had merely showed Liang to be a motivated and spontaneous activist whose political views happened to align with those of the Chinese government. In a recent interview, Demissie acknowledged that Liang had communicated with several Chinese officials but denied that he worked for the Chinese government. Advertisement But Liang's acquittal has had a chilling effect on dissidents. Several told the Globe that they felt less confident the US government could protect them from being harassed or spied upon by the Chinese government. Che Chungchi, a 75-year-old Chinese American, told me he is 'afraid to live in Boston' and has avoided visiting Chinatown in the wake of Liang's acquittal. Che's image in photos and videos was sent to Chinese officials by Liang, according to Frances Hui (center, holding white paper) and Che Chungchi (with megaphone) joined a counter-protest against a Chinese government flag-raising ceremony outside Boston City Hall on Sept. 29, 2019. Courtesy Che Chungchi While Hui said she respected the jury's decision in the Liang case, she worries about whether dissidents facing surveillance, harassment, and worse will have any recourse to seek justice or protection from the US government. Still, when compared to her fellow activists in Hong Kong who are in prison and have little hope of receiving a fair trial, Hui believes the prosecution of Liang was an important step forward in exposing the harassment of Chinese and Hong Kong dissidents in the United States. The Chinese government 'thinks they could do these things to silence and break us,' Hui said. 'But they have only made me stronger.'


Metro
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
This horny book adaption's cast guarantees we'll all be obsessed with the film
A fresh casting announcement has absolutely thrilled fans and convinced me that the film in question could end up as one of the most popular and anticipated movies in years. It could also signal the early era of another rom-com giant, à la Richard Curtis, or the coming of a film about love with the power to impact pop culture like When Harry Met Sally or xx. I am, of course, talking about the announcement via Deadline of Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman to play the romantic leads in the movie adaptation of Ali Hazelwood's best-selling novel (and – I cannot stress this enough – actual BookTok sensation) The Love Hypothesis. For those who haven't been wrapped up in the quite astounding way TikTok has revived the publishing industry since lockdown, even garnering its own name for that corner of the social site, The Love Hypothesis was one of the platform's biggest breakout successes following the novel's formal publication in 2021. But what has now shifted this film up a notch in terms of anticipation is how the casting has seemingly leaned into the famous early inspirations of Hazelwood's book. And it's this which makes me confident everyone's obsession is about to go stratospheric. The Love Hypothesis follows PhD student Olive Smith (Reinhart), a rising star in Stanford University's biology department, who ends up in a classic fake dating situation with a hotshot professor, Adam Carlsen (Bateman). Everything kicks off when she does the totally normal thing of panic kissing him at the lab to convince her best friend she has a boyfriend. And he does the totally normal thing of agreeing afterwards to maintain the lie for… reasons. However, The Love Hypothesis actually began in 2018 as Head Over Feet, a piece of Star Wars fan fiction published online by Hazelwood, which was inspired by the 'Reylo' shipping many fans did between the characters of Rey (Daisy Ridley) and antagonist Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). This is a romance that actually almost bore fruit in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – and it's one that now has another fascinating link to The Love Hypothesis, for Bateman in the role of Adam is Rey actress Ridley's husband in real life. Although some were holding out for Driver to take on the role his character inspired, many are tickled pink by this meta casting move – 'I'm cackling' posts are littered across social media – whether it was deliberate or not. 'The concept of playing the love interest in fan fiction about your wife is kind of insane, I think Tom Bateman won in life,' tweeted Alysa, while @rejectedcarebear wrote on Reddit: 'This is actually the best part of the entire movie.' 'They had a chance and they took it for sure haha!' added another fan, while @pertifty shared: 'I love this timeline we are living. I wonder why she didn't want to play Olive if her husband is playing Adam??' (As many then explained, there is such a thing as too on the nose.) The excitement alone that's been drummed up by the casting announcement of two semi well-known actors – Reinhart made her name on Riverdale and Bateman appeared in Da Vinci's Demons as well as Sir Kenneth Branagh's star-studded Murder on the Orient Express – confirms this is a watershed moment for TikTok and cinema. Because now we've gone from mild interest that this adaptation is happening to fully seated for it. And Reinhart is a canny operator, fueling fan excitement with lots of fun posts about the film on – where else – but TikTok. Yes, there have been popular BookTok adaptations previously, such as Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue and Robinne Lee's The Idea of You. Both, co-incidentally, star Nicholas Galitzine and were made for Amazon's streaming service Prime Video. The Love Hypothesis is going a step further, being produced by Amazon MGM Studios. This suggests the company's confidence in the movie's cinematic success but also means its streaming home will likely end up being Prime Video too. Could this company be the next rom-com powerhouse, snapping up the major romance book titles that capture the zeitgeist? @lilireinhart Olive Smith 🩷 #thelovehypothesis ♬ Lover – Taylor Swift And let's not beat around the bush, The Love Hypothesis will be bigger than those previous films anyway because it's hornier – don't let the cartoon humans on the book's front cover fool you, Hazelwood likes a lot of detail in her sex scenes. Many audience members will be pulled in simply by curiosity over how that might look onscreen; let's call it the Fifty Shades of Grey factor. If The Love Hypothesis does well, there's also several other Hazelwood novels ripe for adaption – from Love on the Brain to Problematic Summer Romance and Deep End (for the uninitiated, that one will truly have you blushing). More Trending Hazelwood, a real-life former neuroscience professor has made a name for herself as a 'STEMinist' author thanks to her female characters often being in science and tech fields and academia, drawing upon her own experience. She's also an expert at the genre's tropes of pining and misunderstandings but puts them in modern workplace settings. This could easily be what the next wave of rom-coms looks like if they're inspired or directly drawn from the pen of Hazelwood. We'd be moving on from Richard Curtis's bumbling, British and sweary romances to Hazelwood's quirky, introverted and often American heroines. And I think the world of onscreen rom-coms is more than ready to embrace The Love Hypothesis as the start of its next phase. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Shadow Labyrinth review – Pac-Man meets Metroid MORE: I visited Prague's 'narrowest street' to see if it lives up to the TikTok hype MORE: Influencer Emilie Kiser's husband facing child abuse charge after toddler son Trigg's pool drowning
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
There's A Surprising Scientific Explanation For Why Some People Have A Negative Reaction To Perfume
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Have you ever walked past someone wearing a strong perfume and instantly got the ick? Or maybe the fragrance your coworker adores gives you a pounding headache? Few things divide people like scent—the same fragrance that evokes warm, comforting memories in one person can trigger a wave of nausea in another. But why? Is it biology? Your past experience? A personal preference? Or something deeper? Spoiler alert: It's all the above. When a particular scent makes you recoil, you're not being dramatic. You're just The olfactory system, made up of the nose, olfactory bulb, and brain regions that process smell, is responsible for detecting odor molecules, and while 'humans likely share a core set of common olfactory receptors, there is genetic variation in which of those receptors get expressed,' says Pamela Dalton, PhD, a cognitive psychologist and researcher at the Monell Chemical Senses Center. 'Some people may simply not be smelling the entire bouquet; their noses could be missing the balancing notes and only picking up the unpleasant ones.' Meet the experts: Pamela Dalton, PhD is a cognitive psychologist and researcher at the Monell Chemical Senses Center. Daryl Do is a senior perfumer at Delbia Do Fragrances. Zara Patel, MD, is a professor of otolaryngology and director of the Stanford Initiative to Cure Smell and Taste Loss at Stanford University. Anna Rosa Parker is the founder of botanical fragrance brand Herb & Root. In other words, when you and your best friend sniff the same perfume, you may be experiencing two completely different things. 'Some people, for example, can't smell musk at all—they're anosmic to it,' says Daryl Do, senior perfumer at Delbia Do Fragrances. 'Meanwhile, others might find it overwhelming or cloying. It's so individualized.' But aside from biology, experts say our reactions to scent are also shaped by genetics, culture, the nervous system, and our emotional memory. So, we asked a cognitive psychologist, a physician, and perfumers to help decode why scent is so powerful—and so personal. When scent strikes a nerve Sometimes it's not just about disliking an aroma. In certain cases, a particular waft can make a person physically ill. If that's you, it's not your imagination—and your olfactory system may not be to blame. The trigeminal nerve, part of the broader nervous system, detects pressure, temperature, and pain in the nasal cavity and face. When a fragrance contains ingredients that stimulate this nerve (think menthol, bleach, or very strong synthetic aromas), it can cause that telltale stinging, tingling, headache-inducing response. 'I'm one of those people,' says Zara Patel, MD, is a professor of otolaryngology and director of the Stanford Initiative to Cure Smell and Taste Loss at Stanford University. 'If I get into an Uber with an air freshener or walk past someone wearing a strong cologne, I'm going to get a migraine.' Did you know: Some fragrance notes are notoriously polarizing. According to our experts, the most common are patchouli, musk, oud, vintage florals like rose and jasmine, frankincense and myrrh, and linalool, an essential oil. Why are some people more sensitive? Allergies, dryness, or inflammation in the nasal passages might be to blame. 'It's possible that a person's particular anatomy allows airflow to hit the nerve in a more direct way than others,' Dr. Patel explains. The amount or concentration of a fragrance matters, too. 'Almost every material that is a volatile chemical compound, meaning something that evaporates and is detectable by the human nose, can become a trigeminal stimulant at certain concentrations,' says Dr. Dalton. Your brain remembers While your nose and nerves explain the physical part of scent, your brain helps explain the emotional response—like why you hate musk or can't smell patchouli without cringing. Scent is processed in the same part of the brain that governs memory and emotion, which is often why scent is so strongly tied to feelings of nostalgia—a well-studied phenomenon, says Dr. Dalton. 'We have more evidence for prior memory associations influencing our fragrance likes and dislikes than we do for the biological reasons,' she says. In other words, your brain decides whether a smell is 'good' or 'bad' based on what it reminds you of, not what it objectively smells like. For instance, Anna Rosa Parker, founder of botanical fragrance brand Herb & Root, says her brand's Frankincense & Myrrh blend tends to split people into two camps: meditative calm or instant aversion. 'I've always suspected it ties back to early experiences with religious rituals where frankincense was used,' she says. 'For some, that feels comforting. For others, it triggers tension. ' Patchouli is another loaded note. 'It's among the most complex botanicals we work with,' she says. 'People who lived through the 1970s often have an immediate, visceral response—whether that's nostalgia, disgust, or something in between.' Culture shapes scent preference, too Beyond biology and memory, scent preference is also shaped by where—and when—you grew up. 'There are definitely patterns in fragrance preferences by demographic,' says Parker. 'For example, Baby Boomers and Gen X women often gravitate toward soft floral scents like lily of the valley, which were iconic in the '50s and '60s. Millennials tend to favor gourmand notes like vanilla and tonka, which they associate with the body sprays and mists of their teen years.' We see you, Bath & Body Works Body Mists. Geography plays a major role as well. 'In the Middle East and South Asia, resinous notes like oud, sandalwood, and rose are deeply rooted in cultural tradition,' Parker continues. 'In parts of South America, people often prefer fruity, juicy notes; they're tied to sensory memories of home and family.' Still, some scent preferences do transcend cultural lines. A 2022 study published in Current Biology looked at 10 different populations across the globe—including hunter-gatherer groups and urban dwellers—and found that people largely agreed on which scents were pleasant (like vanilla and fruity ethyl butyrate) and which were unpleasant (think sweaty or sulfuric compounds). The takeaway? Biology may create a universal baseline, even if individual preferences are colored by experience. Make your nose happier Even if fragrance is challenging for you, you may not turn your nose up at these crowd pleasers. 'Certain odors that only activate the olfactory system—and not the trigeminal nerve—are almost universally thought of as winners,' says Dr. Patel. The most beloved? Vanilla. 'Across all cultures, vanilla is seen as a safe and comforting scent.' Other generally safe bets include light florals like lily of the valley, citrus fruits, amber, and clean, soapy notes. 'These all feel light, familiar, and safe,' adds Eau De Parfum Unabashedly gourmand (that's fragrance-speak for something so delish, you feel like you could almost eat it), this spritz blends vanilla bourbon and amber to mouth-watering perfection. $175.00 at Ibiza Eau de Toilette For an amber scent, this one is fresh and effervescent—you'll be instantly transported on a summer vacation. Grey amber is complemented with frangiapani flower, coconut water, and mountain lily. $155.00 at Puff Eau de Parfum If both citrus and vanilla are universally appealing, you've hit the jackpot with this new addition to the scent-o-sphere. It combines both notes with bergamot, almond, and meringue. $125.00 at Fleur Eau de Parfum If a delicate bouquet is what you're after (no heady jasmine or powdery rose here), this blend of osmanthus and ylang ylang has you covered from head to whenever you decide to spritz next. $78.00 at You know the refreshed vibe you get when you step out of the shower? This is it, bottled. A clean mix of orange blossom, neroli, and sea spray that will leave you feeling clean, clean, clean. $46.00 at And if you'd classify yourself as a scent-sensitive individual, there are ways to navigate the world without constant sensory assault (aside from avoiding elevators and department stores)? Talk to your doctor. 'Sometimes treating underlying inflammation or dryness can help,' says Dr. Patel. And if a friend or coworker wears a scent that bothers you, be honest—but kind. 'Make it about your sensitivity, not their choices.' When shopping for fragrance, try—for a while—before you buy. 'Spray it on your skin—not just a paper tester—and give it time,' says Do. 'Your body chemistry, skincare products, and even your detergent can affect how a scent wears.' Wear it in the places you'd normally wear it, such as work, school, a night out, etc., and wait three days before you decide, he says. In the end, scent is deeply personal—and if something's not for you, it's not for you. Blame biology, your memories, or your trigeminal nerve. But if you'd like to get more scent-friendly, there's no shortage of options. 'There's a huge palette to choose from,' says Dr. Dalton. 'You don't have to love every fragrance—just the ones that make you feel good.' You Might Also Like Jennifer Garner Swears By This Retinol Eye Cream These New Kicks Will Help You Smash Your Cross-Training Goals


Forbes
2 days ago
- Health
- Forbes
Rethinking Work With AI: What Stanford's Groundbreaking Workforce Study Means For Healthcare's Future
AI systems should reduce cognitive load, clarify ambiguity, and work alongside teams as intelligent collaborators, not as black-box disruptors. What if the AI systems you're building solve the wrong problems and alienate the workforce you're trying to support? That's the uncomfortable reality laid bare by a new research study from Stanford University. While AI pilots race ahead across administrative and clinical functions, most are still built on a flawed assumption: that automating tasks equals progress. But for the people doing the work—clinicians, care coordinators, billing specialists—that's not what they asked for. The report, Future of Work with AI Agents, offers the most granular audit yet of how worker sentiment, task complexity, and technical feasibility collide in the age of artificial intelligence. Over 1,500 U.S. workers were surveyed across 104 occupations, producing the most detailed dataset yet on where AI could, and should, fit. Their preferences were paired with ratings from 52 AI experts to create a map of the true automation and augmentation landscape. For healthcare, the findings could not come at a more urgent moment. The healthcare sector faces a burned-out workforce, escalating administrative waste, and widespread dissatisfaction with digital tools that were meant to help. A majority of physicians report that documentation burden is a leading cause of burnout, with recent studies showing U.S. physicians spend excessive time on documentation tasks. Nurse attrition has also remained a concern since the pandemic. Meanwhile, AI adoption is surging, with the vast majority of health systems piloting or planning AI integration. However, there remains a lack of consistent frameworks to align these technologies with real-world clinical and operational dynamics. The result? Misplaced investment, fractured trust, and resistance from the very people AI is meant to assist. The Stanford study confirms it: the majority of tasks that healthcare workers want automated—like documentation, claims rework, or prior auth form generation—are not where AI tools are being focused. In fact, less than 2% of those high-desire tasks are showing up in actual LLM usage today. Instead, attention and venture funding are often diverted toward automating interpersonal communication, appeals, or triage. These are areas where trust, nuance, and empathy matter most. This is more than a technical oversight. It's a strategic miscalculation. This study clarifies that the future of AI in healthcare isn't about replacing human judgment—it's about protecting it. Leaders must pivot from automation-at-any-cost to augmentation-by-design. That means building AI systems that reduce cognitive load, clarify ambiguity, and work alongside teams as intelligent collaborators, not as black-box disruptors. And, most critically, it means listening to the workforce before you deploy. A New Lens on Work: Automation Desire vs. Technical Feasibility Stanford's framework introduces two powerful filters for every task: what workers want automated and what AI can do. This produces a four-quadrant map: This approach is especially revealing in healthcare, where: Critically, 69% of workers said their top reason for wanting AI was to free up time for higher-value work. Only 12% wanted AI to fully take over a task. The takeaway? Augmentation, not replacement. Green Light (Automate Now): R&D Opportunity (Invest in Next-Gen AI): Red Light (Approach with Caution): Y Combinator is one of the world's most influential startup accelerators, known for launching and funding early-stage technology companies, including many that shape the future of artificial intelligence. Its relevance in this context comes from its outsized role in setting trends and priorities for the tech industry: the types of problems YC-backed startups pursue often signal where talent, investment, and innovation are headed. The Stanford study highlights a striking disconnect between these startup priorities and actual workforce needs. Specifically, it found that 41% of Y Combinator-backed AI startups are developing solutions for tasks that workers have little interest in automating—referred to as 'Red Light Zones' or low-priority areas. This reveals a substantial missed opportunity: if leading accelerators like Y Combinator better aligned their focus with the real needs and preferences of the workforce, AI innovation could deliver far greater value and acceptance in the workplace. The Human Agency Scale: AI as a Teammate To move beyond binary thinking (automate vs. don't), the Stanford research team introduces a more nuanced framework: the Human Agency Scale (HAS). This five-tier model offers a conceptual scaffold for evaluating how AI agents should integrate into human workflows. Rather than asking whether a task should be automated, the HAS asks to what extent the human remains in control, how decision-making is shared, and what level of oversight is required. The scale ranges from H1 to H5, as follows: The Stanford study reveals a clear pattern across occupations: the majority of workers—particularly in healthcare—prefer H2 or H3. Specifically, 45.2% of tasks analyzed across all industries favor an H3 arrangement, in which AI acts as a collaborative peer. In healthcare contexts—where judgment, empathy, and contextual nuance are foundational—H3 is even more critical. In roles such as care coordination, utilization review, and social work, tasks often require a mix of real-time decision-making, human empathy, and risk stratification. A system built for full automation (H5) in these contexts would not only be resisted—it would likely produce unsafe or ethically problematic outcomes. Instead, what's required are AI agents that can surface relevant information, adapt to the evolving contours of a task, and remain responsive to human steering. John Halamka, President of Mayo Clinic Platform, reinforced this collaborative mindset in February 2025: 'We have to use AI,' he said, noting that ambient listening tools represent 'the thing that will solve many business problems' with relatively low risk. He cited Mayo's inpatient ambient nursing solutions, which handle '100% of the nursing charting without the nurse having to touch a keyboard,' but was clear that these tools are 'all augmenting human behavior and not replacing the human.' These insights echo a broader workforce trend: automation without agency is unlikely to succeed. Clinical leaders don't want AI to dictate care pathways or handle nuanced appeals independently. They want AI that reduces friction, illuminates blind spots, and extends their cognitive reach, without erasing professional identity or judgment. As such, designing for HAS Level 3 (equal partnership) is emerging as the gold standard for intelligent systems in healthcare. This model balances speed and efficiency with explainability and oversight. It also offers a governance and performance evaluation framework that prioritizes human trust. Building AI for HAS Level 3 requires features that go beyond prediction accuracy. Systems must be architected with: Healthcare doesn't need one-size-fits-all automation. It requires collaboration at scale, grounded in transparency and guided by human expertise. These perspectives align perfectly with the Stanford findings: workers don't fear AI—they fear being sidelined by it. The solution isn't to slow down AI development. It's to direct it with clarity, co-design it with the people who rely on it, and evaluate it not just by outputs but also by the experience and empowerment it delivers to human professionals. The true ROI of AI is trust, relief, and time reclaimed. Outcomes like 'claims processed' or 'notes generated' aren't enough. Metrics should track cognitive load reduced, time returned to patient care, and worker trust in AI recommendations. While throughput remains a necessary benchmark, these human-centered outcomes provide the clearest signal of whether AI improves the healthcare experience. Measurement frameworks must be longitudinal, capturing not just initial productivity but long-term operational resilience, clinician satisfaction, and sustainable value. Only then can we ensure that AI fulfills its promise to elevate both performance and purpose in healthcare. Dr. Rohit Chandra, Chief Digital Officer at Cleveland Clinic, gave voice to this idea in June 2025: 'It's made their jobs a ton easier. Patient interactions are a lot better because now patients actually engage with the doctor,' he said, referring to 4,000 physicians now using AI scribes. 'I'm hoping that we can keep building on the success that we've had so far to literally drive the documentation burden to zero.' Build With, Not For This moment is too important for misalignment. The Stanford study offers a blueprint. For healthcare leaders, the message is clear: If you want AI to scale, build with the workforce in mind. Prioritize the Green Light Zones. Invest in agentic systems that enhance, not override. Govern AI like a trusted partner, not a productivity engine. The future of AI in healthcare won't be determined by the size of your model. It will be defined by the quality of your teaming.


CNBC
2 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Nvidia CEO: If I were a 20-year-old again today, this is the field I would focus on in college
If Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang were a student today, he says he'd focus on the physical sciences. During a trip to Beijing on Wednesday, Huang was asked by a journalist: "If you are a 22-year-old version of Jensen [who] just graduated today in 2025 but with the same ambition, what would you focus on?" To that, the Nvidia CEO said: "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," adding that he actually graduated two years early from college, at age 20. Physical science, as opposed to life science, is a broad branch that focuses on the study of non-living systems, including physics, chemistry, astronomy and earth sciences. Huang got his electrical engineering degree from Oregon State University in 1984 before earning his master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1992, according to his LinkedIn profile. About a year later, in April 1993, Huang co-founded Nvidia with fellow engineers Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem over a meal at a Denny's restaurant in San Jose, California. Under Huang's leadership as CEO, the chipmaker has now become the world's most valuable company. Nvidia also became the world's first company to hit a $4 trillion market cap last week. Although Huang didn't explain why he says he'd study the physical sciences if he were a student again today, the tech founder has been very bullish on "Physical AI" or what he calls the "next wave." Over the past decade and a half, the world has moved through multiple phases of artificial intelligence, he explained in April at The Hill & Valley Forum in Washington, D.C. "Modern AI really came into consciousness about 12 to 14 years ago, when AlexNet came out and computer vision saw its big, giant breakthrough," Huang said at the forum. AlexNet was a computer model unveiled during a 2012 competition that demonstrated the ability of machines to recognize images using deep learning, helping spark the modern AI boom. This first wave is called 'Perception AI,' Huang said. Then, came the second wave called "Generative AI," "which is where the AI model has learned how to understand the meaning of the information but [also] translate it" into different languages, images, code and more. "We're now in this age called 'Reasoning AI'... where you now have AI that can understand, it can generate, [and] solve problems and recognize conditions that we've never seen before," he said. Artificial intelligence, in its current state, can solve problems using reasoning. "Reasoning AI allows you to produce a form of digital robots. We call them agentic AI," said Huang. These AI agents are essentially "digital workforce robots" capable of reasoning, he added. Today, AI agents are a key focus among many tech companies, such as Microsoft and Salesforce. Looking ahead, the next wave is "Physical AI," said Huang. "The next wave requires us to understand things like the laws of physics, friction, inertia, cause and effect," said Huang in Washington, D.C., in April. Physical reasoning abilities, such as the concept of object permanence — or the fact that objects continue to exist even if they're out of sight — will be big in this next phase of artificial intelligence, he said. Applications of physical reasoning include predicting outcomes, such as where a ball will roll, understanding how much force is needed to grip an object without damaging it and inferring the presence of a pedestrian behind a car. "And when you take that physical AI and then you put it into a physical object called a robot, you get robotics," he added. "This is really, really important for us now, because we're building plants and factories all over the United States." "So hopefully, in the next 10 years, as we build out this new generation of plants and factories, they're highly robotic and they're helping us deal with the severe labor shortage that we have all over the world," said Huang.