Overview
- Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who addressed the University of Arizona commencement Friday, was repeatedly booed when he mentioned artificial intelligence, with videos of the jeering spreading widely online.
- Schmidt acknowledged students’ concerns as “rational” and urged the class to help shape AI, yet the crowd kept interrupting as he tried to continue his remarks.
- Some students planned protests tied to sexual-assault allegations by former partner Michelle Ritter, a lawsuit a Los Angeles judge sent to arbitration in March, which Schmidt and his attorney deny.
- A university spokesperson said Schmidt was invited for his leadership in technology and his philanthropic support of scientific work connected to the campus.
- The incident echoes a recent UCF commencement where a speaker was booed for praising AI, with news outlets linking both scenes to rising fears stoked by AI-related layoffs and surveys showing more concern than excitement about the technology.