The homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.
The homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.
Notifications
Notifications
Hamburger Navigation Button
Navigation Drawer
The VergeThe Verge logo.
closeClose
Search
LightSystemDark
Comments Drawer
Notifications
Comments
-
News
-
AI
-
Entertainment
Microsoft, like, totally gets why students are booing AI-pilled graduation speakers
A slew of viral clips show college graduates booing commencement speakers who mention AI.
A slew of viral clips show college graduates booing commencement speakers who mention AI.
byMia Sato
Jun 10, 2026, 1:45 PM EDT
-
Link
-
Share
-
Gift
Comments\ 3030\ Comments (All New)
Mia Satois features writer with five years of experience covering the companies that shape technology and the people who use their tools.
New college graduates around the country have been booing and heckling commencement speakers who hype up AI. Microsoft would like everyone to talk it out.
In a blog post running more than 3,100 words, Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith addressed the recent spate of viral clips from graduation ceremonies, like former Google CEO Eric Schmidt getting an earful at the University of Arizona, or the speaker in Florida who seemed surprised when students booed at the mention of AI as “the next industrial revolution.” The videos speak to a broader societal sentiment around AI — the technology is deeply unpopular even as technology companies insert it everywhere without consent. Young people use AI, yet feel bad about it. The backlash against massive data centers is shaping up to be a defining political issue. There’s the sense that these viral clips are a cathartic expression of just how out of touch executives and technocrats really are.
Add Verge on Google
Add Verge as a preferred source to see more of our reporting on Google.
In the blog post, Smith takes a conciliatory tone: Of course young people are reacting this way. It’s the wake-up call for the adults in the room!
“Graduating students who grimace or even boo at references to AI are telling us what we need to hear, that it’s time once again to raise the bar,” Smith writes. “That has been a frequent refrain from students for decades. The key is always to channel uncertainty into purposeful steps that build a better future.”
Related
- The biggest data center ever is becoming a huge problem in Utah
- The more young people use AI, the more they hate it
But in substance, the blog post is similar to the line of reasoning that have elicited the boos in the first place: that AI will reshape culture, labor, and relationships in ways we might not even understand yet. Smith also suggests graduates are more attuned to an AI-filled future, having grown up with technology and being more nimble to change.
“You’re in a unique position to have a positive impact. You’ve lived through significant challenges,” he writes. “While it may feel unfair that the job market is so uncertain, you were made for this moment.”
The idea that what the tech industry needs to do is “raise the bar” will also likely be met with skepticism from consumers: It was, after all, these very same people — including Microsoft partners like OpenAI’s Sam Altman — who once warned of the catastrophic effects of AI, only to walk it back after realizing it landed poorly (Microsoft execs, too, are trying to thread the needle around jobs). Why should the public trust the people who caused this uncertainty to be the ones to clean up the mess?
An alternative way to understand Microsoft’s missive is that it’s directed not at the new grads who are angry, but at the C-suite execs who are seeing these clips and rolling their eyes. In a post on X, Smith said the booing graduates are “reminding us that AI should serve people, not replace them.” That they needed reminding in the first place is the whole problem.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
-
Mia Sato
-
AI
-
Culture
-
Entertainment
-
Internet Culture
-
Microsoft
-
News
-
Tech
Most Popular
Most Popular
-
Microsoft restricts Claude Fable for employees over data retention concerns
-
Xbox exploring ‘radically different’ console business models
The Verge Daily
A free daily digest of the news that matters most.
Email (required)
Sign Up
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Advertiser Content From\
\
\
\
This is the title for the native ad\
\
More in News
Apple, Google add support for Thread 1.4
Kalshi adds required employment verification for some prediction market bets
You can just tell the Instagram algorithm what you want now
Amazon’s Echo speakers can now help kids wind down and fall asleep
Google will save your Lens photos, Search Live recordings, and Translate audio for AI training
Valve is phasing out physical Steam gift cards due to scammers
Apple, Google add support for Thread 1.4
Jennifer Pattison TuohyJun 10
Kalshi adds required employment verification for some prediction market bets
Stevie BonifieldJun 10
You can just tell the Instagram algorithm what you want now
Jay PetersJun 10
Amazon’s Echo speakers can now help kids wind down and fall asleep
Andrew LiszewskiJun 10CommentsComment Icon Bubble4
Google will save your Lens photos, Search Live recordings, and Translate audio for AI training
Emma RothJun 10CommentsComment Icon Bubble5
Valve is phasing out physical Steam gift cards due to scammers
Emma RothJun 10CommentsComment Icon Bubble8
Advertiser Content From\
\
\
\
This is the title for the native ad
Top Stories
Jun 10
Claude Fable won’t answer basic biology questions
Jun 10
Nearly a million passports and photo IDs were left unprotected on the public internet
Jun 10
Xbox warns of a ‘reset’ as it prepares for layoffs
Jun 10
Boox’s quirky page-turning remote won me over
Jun 10
The future of AI regulation is courting the strangest, most anxious bedfellows
Jun 10
Bluesky is getting ‘communities’
Notifications Drawer
The VergeThe Verge logo.
Sign in to see your notifications or create an account to join the conversation.
Read Original at The Verge →