VinFuture is an incredible idea

– Congratulations for winning the 2024 VinFuture Grand Prize? How are you feeling right now?

I was truly touched! Vietnam has initiated a meaningful and world-class award, akin to the Nobel Prize, to celebrate groundbreaking scientific achievements and connect with global scientists. The VinFuture Prize also gathers a council of the world’s leading scientists. Therefore, being nominated and awarded VinFuture is a tremendous honor for me!

Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính presented the prestigious 2024 VinFuture Grand Prize to Professor Yoshua Bengio, Mr. Jensen Huang, and Professor Yann LeCun during the VinFuture Prize award ceremony held in Hanoi. Photo: VinFuture.

– What do you think about VinFuture as an effective bridge between leading scientists and global technology companies such as NVIDIA?

It’s an incredible idea. It connects Vietnam to the world’s leading scientists and builds a bridge between Vietnam’s researchers and amazing scientists from around the world.

Without the VinFuture program, many of the scientists and researchers that are here today would never have come to Vietnam. Look at the amazing researchers you brought — Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, Yann LeCun. So many of them are now coming to Vietnam because of this.

Building these relationships, forging these connections, and linking researchers in Vietnam to those around the world is a fabulous idea.

– You are known as a pioneer in the groundbreaking development of AI. What do you think about concerns that AI might take away jobs and harm humanity’s future?

There are many things that we humans do that require human judgment. AI does not possess our empathy, emotion, aspiration, or kindness. There are many things we do, decisions we make, that AI cannot currently do.

So, if AI can perform 80% of our work, we can use it to boost our productivity fivefold. Instead of worrying that AI will take our jobs, we should think about leveraging AI as much as possible to enhance efficiency. The fact is that AI will not take away your job, someone who knows how to use AI will.

“I’m honored to accept this award on behalf of my colleagues at NVIDIA. For over 30 years, we’ve been building the tools to help scientists, artists, and creators push the boundaries of what’s possible. Vietnam, with its dynamic workforce and growing tech ecosystem, is poised to become a leader in AI. NVIDIA is proud to support this journey by fostering innovation and nurturing talent. Thank you to the VinFuture Foundation for recognizing the power of AI to change the world,” Mr. Jensen Huang shared his thoughts upon receiving the 2024 VinFuture Grand Prize. Photo: VinFuture.

– What are your recommendations to minimize AI-related risks?

Let me give you an example. We know that the cars that we build today are much safer than the cars built 50 or 100 years ago. The reason for that is better technology.

So, if we want AI to be safe, the first thing we should do is build better technology. AI researchers around the world are working feverishly to improve the accuracy of AI, the reasoning capability of AI, its alignment with ground truths, facts and our core values.

Additionally, we want to make sure that we have the technology to safeguard AI, so that when we teach an AI to do something, it stays within its scope. For example, if we have an AI that’s very good at ship design, we would like that AI not to be used for accounting or marketing.

In the future, it won’t just be a single AI performing tasks. We’ll have one AI surrounded by multiple other AIs to ensure it performs tasks properly. This level of oversight will require significant technological advancements.

A lifelong learning mindset has served me well

– Many people think there are very few connections between researchers, scientists, and highly successful businesspeople. However, you’ve proven otherwise, being one of the world’s most successful business leaders and now being honored with prestigious science and technology awards. How do you explain this?

At the core of being an engineer, researcher, or scientist is reasoning from first principles and the ability to learn, experiment, and improve. This approach is not only the scientific method but also the same method used to build a business, market products, manage a company, or lead a team. It’s all the same.

That’s why your goal should not only be to be a good student, to learn the topic, but to be a lifelong learner, to learn the method of learning. And that has served me very well.

Dr. Thai-Ha Le, Managing Director of the VinFuture Foundation, welcomed Mr. Jensen  Huang, Founder and CEO of NVIDIA. Photo: VinFuture.

– Do you have any suggestions for scientists who want to commercialize their research and bring more value to humanity?

There’s no guarantee that some ideas can be commercialized. However, at the core of all successful things is empathy for the needs of others. If you can empathize with the needs of others, you can create solutions that are widely welcomed.

To succeed in business, you must serve others—your customers, the market, your partners, and even your employees. At the heart of all successful businesses is the service of others.

I believe the principles that great scientists and researchers follow are very similar to those of successful business leaders. Both come from a place of love and a heart dedicated to service.

– You recently inaugurated NVIDIA’s Research and Development Center in Vietnam. What made you decide to choose Vietnam as NVIDIA’s “second home”?

Vietnam is a country with many advantages, the greatest of which is its family values. More precisely, it is Vietnam’s “superpower,” where people highly value education and see it as the key to a better life.

Thanks to this, Vietnamese people have achieved remarkable excellence in STEM fields, with many young students excelling in Mathematics, Science, and Technology. This provides a solid foundation for developing future technologies.

It is also incredible that a small country like Vietnam is the second-largest provider of software engineers globally. Very few people around the world are aware of this fact. This is one of the reasons NVIDIA decided to establish an R&D center in Vietnam.

Mr. Jensen Huang shared his reflections on being named a 2024 VinFuture Grand Prize Laureate alongside Professors Yoshua Bengio, Yann LeCun, Geoffrey Hinton, and Fei-Fei Li. Photo: VinFuture.

​​- What are your expectations for R&D collaboration with Vietnam?

First, we aim to build a strong foundation here. We hope to attract outstanding software engineers, AI researchers, and AI engineers from Vietnam to work directly in the country. At the same time, we want to develop a robust AI ecosystem in Vietnam.

To achieve this, three essential factors are required. First, there must be AI infrastructure. Second, strong academic programs in AI should be included in all universities. And third, we need a strong ecosystem of AI startups. Once we have the infrastructure, education, and AI ecosystem in place, the “flywheel” will start.

– Thank you!