Ren Zhengfei's latest speech: Computing power without a network is an information island, AI focuses on application

Editor’s Note: On November 14, 2025, Ren Zhengfei, Director and CEO of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., held a discussion with the ICPC President, coaches, and award-winning participants. The content of the discussion was published on the ICPC official website on December 5. Ren Zhengfei believes that times are changing, and youth is where hope lies, encouraging them to surf with the times and be fearless of failure; he also pointed out that the key to AI lies in its application, that the goals of enterprises and schools differ, that Huawei values AI but currently focuses more on CT, and emphasized open cooperation to connect with global talent through communication platforms.

The following content is excerpted from the minutes of the meeting:

Veronika Soboleva: Good morning, everyone! First of all, thank you very much, Mr. Ren, for bringing the ICPC team to such a beautiful park at Lianqiu Lake. It is a great honor to be here today. All participating members represent ICPC, and they have worked very hard this year, coming from over thirty countries and regions, with more than 110 participants, including coaches and winners from around the world. Some colleagues are participating remotely, while others are here in person. I am very happy to be here to share our thoughts and hear your insights. Thank you very much to Huawei for the thoughtful arrangements and for bringing the entire ICPC community of coaches and participants together. We have three key areas of work, including connecting with academia, educational institutions, and industry, so this is a very good event. Welcome, everyone!

ICPC President: First of all, thank you very much for inviting us to this beautiful park. It is a wonderful place in every aspect, a great place to make friends and gather together. I want to express my gratitude to everyone for providing us with this opportunity. There is a very nice word in English, “together,” which means being able to come together, thank you very much!

Ren Zhengfei: Thank you very much to the ICPC President, all the coaches, and all the young world champions. We believe we are in a rapidly changing era, and we hope that young people like you are radiating the light of youth. You are role models for young people, and the hope of the times is entrusted to you.

In your industry, I am an outsider and do not fully know what to do, and I am somewhat confused about this era. I feel very fortunate to establish a communication and friendly bond with you all, through which I can sense the pulse of the world and the dreams of you young people. We all feel the leap of the times together, not knowing what kind of future technology will bring, thus enabling us to work together to explore in this era. I do not know you all well enough to give a systematic speech, but I still want to communicate with you and hear your opinions.

Veronika Soboleva: Thank you very much, Mr. Ren. Over the past three days, everyone has participated in many seminars at Huawei, raised many questions, and solved many challenges. I know that everyone has many questions about AI that they want to discuss with Mr. Ren. This year’s ICPC challenge is also focused on AI, with this topic as the main focus; I know there will also be many questions related to education, as well as the differences and challenges around the world, because the levels and conditions vary globally 1. Veronika Soboleva: From the discussion among participants yesterday, I heard a question. Now that we have entered the era of AI, we are also facing the challenges brought by AI. What is Huawei's perspective on this? It's not just about the entire ICPC community, but how does the global community address the challenges posed by AI? We have many different ideas; what should we do? I would like to hear your thoughts on the future of AI. What problems do we need to solve, and how can we work together to tackle these challenges?

Ren Zhengfei: Regarding AI, I am an outsider. I believe we can understand the relationship between AI and humanity in several stages. Twenty years from now to a thousand years in the future is a question for sociologists and anthropologists to study. Yuval Noah Harari is a representative figure; his book "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" explores the profound changes and potential impacts that the development of AI technology may bring to social structures and human existence. With the evolution of big data and large models, whether what he says is true or not, perhaps twenty years from now, you young people will be able to understand this and perceive this era.

The next ten to twenty years should be a stage where great prophets and scientists envision what the technological social structure of the future will be.

Our company's research focuses on the application of large models, big data, and computing power in agriculture, industry, and technology over the next 3-5 years. For example, in blast furnace ironmaking, we can use large models to understand the reasonable control of furnace temperature at each layer, appropriately reduce the temperature, optimize the control of fuel and ore composition, and predict the silicon content of molten iron two hours later, determining the ratio of fuel and ore to be input, which can improve the efficiency of the blast furnace by 1%. In our country, we can already use unmanned methods to "mine coal" at depths of 500 to 700 meters or even deeper. Why? Because the conditions of unmanned coal mining in narrow underground tunnels are all captured through data collection and stitched into a complete and coherent real-time video, allowing people on the surface or from a distance to operate coal mining machinery, predict gas explosions, water inrush, and collapses, ensuring the safety of miners. After coal is transported to the surface, it can be selectively washed to improve coal quality, and large models can also enhance the precision of selection by 0.1%, producing more premium coal. At the same time, in open-pit mines, excavation and ore loading can be completely unmanned, with hundreds of heavy mining trucks and excavators operating autonomously. Port loading, stacking, and customs clearance can also be unmanned; for example, at Tianjin Port, the entire process from container loading and unloading to customs clearance is unmanned. The same goes for the Port of Callao in Peru. Therefore, we are focusing on these areas.

Secondly, human health. Are you familiar with physiological slices? The pathological large model at Ruijin Hospital has been widely used, utilizing large models to analyze slices and help doctors improve their diagnostic capabilities. There is also an ophthalmology model at Sun Yat-sen University that can take photos with a mobile phone or specialized instruments, enabling remote diagnosis and assisting doctors in remote areas to enhance their diagnostic abilities, ….

You are also aware of the autonomous driving models for passenger cars, as well as the dialogue models on the cockpit and mobile phones, etc. We are focusing on these areas, aiming to solve some practical problems in production and consumption using large models. Of course, there is still a lot of room for improvement, and much needs to be accumulated 2. Question: Mr. Ren, I come from the National University of Singapore and am currently the president of the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI). On behalf of the IOI, I would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Huawei for its support and sponsorship over the years. A question was raised earlier regarding certain regions that have not yet reached the standards we see now. Therefore, what the IOI needs to do next is to help these regions, not by giving them fish, but by teaching them how to fish. We hope that the upcoming plan will gather coaches from these countries together, provide them with training materials and platforms, and assist them in improving their IT standards. If these countries cannot even program well, how can they think about developing artificial intelligence? We hope Huawei can provide strong support to help raise the standards of these countries.

Ren Zhengfei: Now, developed and advanced networks provide the demands mentioned by Teacher Chen. In the past, you had to attend prestigious schools and have teachers lecturing you in person to become a master. Now, many well-known universities have opened online courses, allowing students in remote areas to access courses from world-renowned universities; they just lack sufficient guidance from tutors. Otherwise, it would be equivalent to attending a world-class university. The internet has provided various possibilities, shifting from physical concentration to logical dispersion. Through the logical dispersion of the internet, schools in remote areas have made significant progress.

Now, seven or eight-year-old children sometimes ask questions that teachers cannot answer because they have seen a lot of knowledge online and have their own independent insights. Teachers face certain difficulties in addressing these questions, which reflects the progress of society as a whole. Courses that we had to go to Beijing, New York, Boston, or London to attend in the past can now be accessed through the internet in remote areas. Of course, understanding these courses deeply is challenging and requires good tutors. Tutors do not necessarily need to meet physically; they can also use logical networks. The transition from a physically centralized education model to a logically dispersed education model is beneficial for the progress of human society. When humanity progresses, the most advanced progress is seen in children. This is the growth of intelligence and talent, and the advancement of the times. The hope for the future lies in the youth, who will take on the task of revitalizing society.

Artificial intelligence promotes productive progress, and we will be able to experience this in three to five years. People talk about things five to ten years, ten to twenty years, or twenty years into the future, but I do not know. The development speed of artificial intelligence is too fast, and I do not fully know the direction of the future era. What I just mentioned is what society has already achieved. For example, using a small ultrasound probe to scan the waist of herders in the Tibetan pastoral area, the data is transmitted through a 3000-kilometer network to a detection center in Shenzhen, where the ultrasound instrument can detect echinococcosis in the Tibetan people. This is the transmission effect of low-latency 5G and high-bandwidth fiber optic networks. Because it is impossible to have ultrasound instruments in pastoral areas, there is a probe that scans the liver like a mobile phone. Now, with the emergence of 5G and remote-assisted diagnosis, artificial intelligence plays a significant role. This remote method can also lead to tremendous progress in human society through education 3. Question: Mr. Ren, I am a coach from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. I won the ACM ICPC World Championship three times in 2002, 2005, and 2010. Later, I established an ACM class with the hope of cultivating our own computer scientists, not just winning more championships. I was thinking that since the ACM class was established in 2002, it has been over twenty years now, and the influence of the ACM class globally is quite significant. Many students are now going abroad for further studies, hoping they will return after their studies.

With the arrival of the AI era, China hopes to attract talent, but the development of technology cannot always rely on introducing talent; we should create our own talent. Only by being a strong educational country can we become a strong technological country. In this era, how can China invest more energy in education to stay ahead? Many technological achievements are not coming from academia but from the industry; for example, school-enterprise cooperation can no longer quickly solve the problems of Chinese education.

Ren Zhengfei: Because we are a company, the nature of a company is to create commercial value, while the nature of a school is to explore the future of humanity. Schools are engaged in "0-1" research and innovation; it doesn't matter if "0-1" fails, as it cultivates a large number of talents. Talents build on the theoretical foundations laid by their predecessors and step by step reach new heights, creating a new future. Companies turn the theories created by schools into industrial reality.

I recently met a great entrepreneur who said that our country's water turbine engines are advanced in the world, both turbine and impact types are advanced, but original inventions mostly come from Western countries like Austria, France, and the United States. This includes China's trains, ships, and textile machinery, where original inventions are basically Western; calculus and geometry were proposed by the West. Universities are actually researching and exploring "0-1."

China will catch up and provide original contributions. For example, the best weather model in the world was proposed by a 22-year-old young man from our company, utilizing meteorological data from European meteorological satellites. He treated the entire universe as a wind tunnel and the Earth as a model. I have heard many people say that this weather model can predict grain yields, power generation, and the accurate paths of typhoons... So, China may also have original contributions. Of course, the entire system of high-voltage direct current transmission is original. The architecture design of star flash transmission is also a world-class invention.

Our company also has a 22-year-old Russian girl who invented a new remainder algorithm that could change the implementation structure of our AI chip multipliers and enhance chip capabilities, but it has not been adopted yet. Why? The chips we invented took six or seven years to develop and have not yet been put into production; we cannot just switch to a new architecture.

Therefore, the purpose of education is education, and the purpose of a company is business. When these two are mixed, we regress.

4. Question: I come from Hungary, and John von Neumann is one of us Hungarians. We also participate in various competitions in the international community. After hearing your thoughts, I have an observation: in the AI era, the success of AI is crucial for us, and the most critical point is to find the most talented students, whether they are high school or university students. So I want to thank Huawei for its support in helping us find these talented young people, as the ability to pose and solve problems is the most important in today's AI era Ren Zhengfei: Hungary is a great country, not only the cradle of great scientists but also the cradle of great politicians. Many American politicians and financiers are Hungarian.

Our country has many institutional innovations that have driven today's prosperity. Before our opening and reform, we were a closed world. Through opening and reform, we introduced many excellent civilizational achievements. Civilization does not conflict; instead, it has promoted many creations, and China's economy has achieved explosive growth. Hundreds of years ago, many inventions such as ships, trains, and clocks came from Europe, even from small countries. After these things entered China, they promoted our development.

We communicate with friends from all over the world and with you young people to convey our thoughts and connections. We are just making friends and getting to know each other. We yearn to communicate with the world, to understand the civilizations and cultures of the entire world, and to create what is needed in various places.

5. Question: Hello, Mr. Ren. I am a teacher from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen). I have participated in programming competitions for nearly fifteen years and ultimately chose to join academia instead of the industry because I want to contribute to society, especially in cultivating the next generation of competition talents and promoting technological development. However, I deeply feel that current scientific research, whether in computing power or data, urgently requires close cooperation between enterprises and schools. For example, the topics of this championship cup come from the industry, sourced from the era of large model AI. The champion is a doctoral student who graduated from Zhejiang University and is now studying at Georgia Institute of Technology. Therefore, I believe this competition and its final results are a great example of collaboration between schools and enterprises. Mr. Ren, in the context of the new era, what kind of help do you hope Huawei will provide to competition talents from home and abroad, especially young talents? What kind of deep exchanges and cooperation do you hope to achieve to continuously promote new results?

Ren Zhengfei: I believe that everyone has different paths in life. Some aim high, while others aim low; both contribute to society. There are also some university students who work as workers, becoming the "workers" of the new era. Three years ago, we recruited more than three thousand undergraduate graduates from remote areas, and after three years of training, we awarded them vocational certifications to work as workers in chip production and precision manufacturing. In the future, we will have a new understanding of the term "worker"; some production personnel in precision industries need to have higher education. University students can be "workers," which is a responsibility of higher education in the future. Of course, we also need a group of people to aim high, to reach the world, and even the universe, to touch the future of humanity. People need to strive; different people walk different paths. Not everyone needs to aim high; it is very important to teach according to the individual.

However, if you can aim high, do not aim low, and do not take the commercial path; you will eventually reach the truth. One day, if you can no longer climb high, you can come down from the "Himalayas," and along the way, you can "lay eggs," then "farm," "raise cattle," "raise pigs"… you will definitely be a good person. It is easier to go down from high to low. I encourage today's youth; if you have the potential to aim high, you must reach the highest point Meta gave several young people a signing bonus of over 100 million dollars each and an annual salary of millions of dollars, but there hasn't been much reaction on the Chinese internet. Why? They are no longer envious. Now, there is a large group of entrepreneurs in China with very strong capabilities. Seven or eight people collaborate to form a company, and two or three dozen people partner up, with all the shares belonging to them. If they succeed, they can take as much as they want. There are many innovative companies led by Chinese youth, and in three to five years or five to ten years, China will undergo tremendous progress. In the field of robotics, there are millions of young people in China working on it, with remaining capital being invested to train them. Regardless of whether they succeed or fail commercially, millions of outstanding young people are growing up, which is beneficial for China's industrial modernization, agricultural modernization, and technological modernization... They are the backbone of our country's path to modernization. Chinese youth no longer have a mechanism to envy others; a mechanism has formed in China. Many who studied abroad have returned and started businesses with their classmates. Young people no longer envy others; they envy themselves and quickly want to accomplish things on their own.

Recently, XPeng's robot walked in a "catwalk," and people began to doubt, saying there was a real person inside. At the press conference, XPeng cut open the robot's outer shell with scissors, revealing that it was all "steel" inside. The robotics industry has also made significant progress, and these small companies are impressive, representing the future world and showcasing a future world. Creating a true "human" is still very difficult, considering factors like brain energy consumption and skin nerve density... There must always be someone exploring the future in this world; human society succeeds through repeated failures. China will see significant progress in three to five years. A stronger China is beneficial for global prosperity.

6. Question: Hello, Mr. Ren, I am a contestant in this competition. I graduated from Zhejiang University and am currently in my second year of PhD at Georgia Tech. I am the junior of the professor who just asked a question, and I would like to continue discussing the question he raised. I want to ask Mr. Ren, if you could go back to being 20 years old, how would you plan the first ten years of your career? I know that as a business manager, you would consider where the collective strength of youth should be directed, but I want to ask, as an independent young individual, how do you think one should plan the early stages of their career development? Thank you!

Ren Zhengfei: I can't go back to being 20; God didn't give me a pass. I can't imagine what I would do at 20. You are 20 now, and it's important to ride the wave of the times and dare to be at the forefront of trends. Don't worry about whether you have money, don't worry about sacrificing your youth, and don't take metrics too seriously; you should see that benefiting the future of humanity is very important.

The genes discovered by Mendel were silent for one or two hundred years before humanity began researching them. Everyone knows how important genes will be for humanity in the future, and how pitiful and lonely the discoverer was at that time. So, don't care about what others choose, and don't worry about what your classmates or friends choose; focus on what suits you. Only you understand yourself, so choose a career and strive for it. It's okay if you don't succeed. Most people in this world are not successful, and the path of failure is also full of knowledge. Through failure, you have tested many hypotheses, and testing hypotheses is a huge wealth you accumulate 7. Question: Hello, Mr. Ren! I am from Beijing Jiaotong University and currently a junior. I won the gold medal for third place in the world at this year's ICPC finals in Baku. I would like to express my gratitude for Huawei's support and discuss personal development with you. As mentioned earlier, we are in the era of AI, which is rapidly evolving. I will be pursuing a Ph.D. at Peking University's School of Computer Science under Professor Xie Tao. I have also started engaging in some research work, particularly in publishing papers and proposing new ideas. In the process of exploring the frontier, it is inevitable to encounter some skepticism. Whether in ICPC competitions or in life, we often face doubts and negative opinions. Huawei has also experienced such moments in its history. I would like to ask Mr. Ren how you view these voices and how to break through doubts and keep moving forward during these times? Thank you, Mr. Ren.

Ren Zhengfei: It is very normal to advance amidst skepticism. Many significant scientific breakthroughs initially faced doubts. For example, Fourier's proposal that any function can be represented by a trigonometric series was not accepted by the Paris Academy of Sciences; Higgs' prediction of the existence of bosons was rejected; and the Copenhagen interpretation of the uncertainty principle was opposed by Einstein, among others. Huawei has faced skepticism in the development of the industry, such as promoting 5G Polar codes and Massive MIMO, constellation shaping in optics, and multi-camera smartphone photography. To break through, one must dare to embrace challenges and innovate boldly.

The China National Railway is currently testing a new 5G-R wireless dispatching system on the railway. High-speed trains running at 450 kilometers per hour use 5G-R to support wireless dispatching. This 5G-R symbiotic radar checks the safety of the tracks in real-time and the safety of the wheel axles of high-speed trains, marking a significant advancement. As we know, a heavy freight train in China can pull 30,000 tons of coal, which is managed by radio dispatching. Previously, radio used GSM-R to control train intervals, managing trains with a cargo capacity of 20,000 tons, densely transporting to Qinhuangdao. In the future, it will upgrade to 5G-R, capable of supporting thousands of trains running at 450 kilometers per hour and 30,000-ton freight trains. Currently, more than 10,000 high-speed trains are dispatched daily, and each point is a calculation point. How does artificial intelligence manage and command such a vast railway transportation network?

The core technology leader of the 12306 system was once a young girl, a model of the times, who transformed 12306 into a super-large real-time ticketing system with the highest global traffic and transaction volume. China's network is becoming increasingly complex, including freight networks, which urgently need cutting-edge mathematics to solve complex problems. You can visualize your academic direction.

China adds more than 8,000 kilometers of railway each year, and in the future, the railway mileage in China will reach hundreds of thousands of kilometers, making it the longest and most complex railway network in the world. In the future, when you become the backbone, China may have 300,000 to 400,000 kilometers of mainline tracks, not including intercity railways and underground railways. The scheduling of such a dense transportation network, storage management, loading management, and coordination management is incredibly complex science that requires highly skilled mathematics PhDs to solve these problems If you come from Jiaotong University, the urgent problem in transportation is a very complex issue.

Question: Thank you very much, Mr. Ren. However, I am a computer science major and will explore artificial intelligence in the future.

Ren Zhengfei: The daily maintenance of high-speed rail and the safety monitoring of trains during high-speed operation are all multi-modal artificial intelligence. The ticketing system of 12306 is the largest internet in China during holiday periods and is already struggling to handle the massive traffic during peak holiday times. The railway manufacturing, construction, and transportation systems also rely on computer information networks, and artificial intelligence needs to be visualized.

8. Question: Hello, Mr. Ren! I am a coach from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. I have been training the best competition students from BUPT for seven years, and this year I also joined Huawei, currently working in the data communication department. My question is, how long do you think it will take to achieve general artificial intelligence? If it can be achieved, many professions and positions will be replaced by artificial intelligence. How should young people in China choose their majors and directions in university? My child will also take the college entrance examination next year, and I would love to hear your opinion.

Ren Zhengfei: Regarding general artificial intelligence, the pursuit of artificial intelligence in the United States and China has different directions. The U.S. is exploring general artificial intelligence (AGI) and super artificial intelligence (ASI), addressing questions like what it means to be human and the future of human society. They want to solve a problem completely, and this era still requires a process of understanding. China, on the other hand, is researching how to get things done, create more value, and solve development issues. Urban safety, advancements in public education and health, automation in mining production, and automation in cement production... coal workers wearing ties, suits, and rings to work is the current visualization. Imagine the spectacular scene when dusty mines, extremely cold mining areas, extremely hot construction sites, and extremely high-altitude factories become automated in the future.

What about the surplus employees from automation? We need to develop re-education programs, such as implementing a voucher system to provide subsidies for laid-off workers, transforming some already vacant schools and factories into vocational schools for re-education. The 12th National Congress of the Communist Party proposed improving the educational and cultural quality of the entire nation, and today China faces a period of enhancing the professional quality level of the entire nation. In the past, our vocational education mostly diverted junior high school students to establish specialized schools, but junior high school students are too young to truly grasp information technology. Now even soldiers in the People's Liberation Army are becoming more like university students; advanced weapons cannot be mastered by those with low education. A large amount of automation may lead to some people being unemployed. However, from a national perspective, total wealth is increasing. For example, in a factory, human production is 100, while automated production is 120. We can implement re-education for the surplus personnel and transition them to specific jobs. Therefore, we will face a reduction in personnel in many positions, and the country will cultivate these individuals into talents needed by the nation through re-education programs, as artificial intelligence increases the total wealth of the country.

Now, everyone says that software programming requires human involvement. With the widespread application of large models and intelligent agent technology in software development, AI-assisted computer software programming has already released about 30% of the workload of software engineers, and it may reach 60-70% in the future Why can't the progress of automation be faster? It still needs to be gradual to ensure the stability of social structure. Therefore, the social benefits brought by artificial intelligence are the increase in total wealth; how to share this wealth? How to retrain some people to get back to work? This is the new topic.

9. Question: Hello, Mr. Ren! I am a PhD student from Princeton University, and my current research direction is artificial intelligence large language models. I want to ask about a common issue in academia, which is the limited computing resources. I know that Huawei has faced some restrictions on certain key components in recent years. How will you overcome this long-term resource limitation and what will be the next steps? Thank you!

Ren Zhengfei: I believe that in the future, there will be an excess of computing power, not a shortage as you might imagine. Building thousands or hundreds of large models is a correct exploration. How large are the current large models, and how much computing power do they require? When Huawei explains super nodes, it mentions 950, 960, 970, but how many "970" do we need, and where can we use them? How many machines are needed, and how to connect the clusters? This is a linear technological deduction, and it is a computable assumption that can definitely be realized. However, the demand is there, and we still do not have the ability to predict and deduce it well. Is the demand a linear structure, or what if it is non-linear? Therefore, the era of excess computing power will definitely come. Those who create models should not worry about how models can be useful to society; that is not your concern. The application training and reasoning of models for various industries will be handled by others, namely industry application engineers.

There are often people online saying that Huawei is not engaged in science; we are actually engaged in technology. We call ourselves Huawei Technology Company, not Huawei Science Company. Science is what you study; we apply scientific technology. However, within our company, we refer to some people as "scientists," which is a classification of positions. It does not correspond to social standards; it is just a specific title and does not need to be taken too seriously.

So, you pursue theory and follow the scientific path; do not worry about whether your science will be applied in society. If you are always concerned about social applications, you are not a scientist but an application expert. Engaging in theory is great because theories are conceived and deduced, and such individuals are rare. Think about Fourier transforms, Laplace equations, Maxwell's equations... how difficult they are; they are "fantasies" created through mathematical deduction and physical intuition. When they wrote down the equations, how did they know they would be so useful to human society? We need to do well in industry and respect originality; this is how we solve our relationship with Europe and the United States.

10. Question: Hello! I come from ICPC Mexico, and I work at the University of the Gulf of Mexico. You may also know that for the first time in Mexico and North America, we have a female president. We are now providing more and more opportunities for female contestants. Currently, about 1/4 or 1/3 of the contestants in our region are women. I would like to understand your views on female participation; should we encourage women to participate in these fields of science and technology? My personal story is also related to this; I come from a family where my grandmother had a difficult life and could not go to school, learning to read by herself because she was very determined. Now my little daughter is also studying in the field of engineering technology This is also my personal story. Women's participation relies on family support. You are a great entrepreneur, and I would like to know your thoughts.

Ren Zhengfei: Mexico is a very great country. Apart from the Maya civilization, crops like corn, tomatoes, chili peppers, and sweet potatoes were all introduced from Mexico to China. Without these species from Mexico, China would not have had such a large population hundreds of years ago, as its own crops could not sustain so many people. Therefore, Mexico is great.

During the time of the Maya civilization, the status of women was low because it involved heavy physical labor. The Maya played a ball game using their hips to push a ball into a stone ring, which women did not have the physical strength to do. Now, in the computer age, it is all about delicate fingers tapping on keyboards, and women are no less capable than men. Currently, there are many female soldiers in the Chinese army, some of whom even pilot heavy fighter jets. When I see young women in their twenties landing fighter jets on aircraft carriers, I admire them greatly; they are truly remarkable. Wu Jianxiong is a woman who proved the law of parity violation through experiments. Therefore, there is no essential difference between men and women in the computer age, as it does not involve heavy physical labor. If it were heavy physical labor, girls would not be able to compete with boys. In light physical labor and intellectual work, there is no essential difference between the two.

Thus, it would be great for more women in Latin America to participate in creative work. Moreover, Latin America and Africa are the richest in material resources in the world, yet they remain undeveloped, with vast underground treasures.

1. Question: Hello, Mr. Ren, I come from Nizhny Novgorod State University in Russia. I would like to mention the different situations of Huawei and ICPC. The challenges posed by Huawei's competition are very close to real application scenarios, allowing our ICPC contestants to solve them, one of which was solved just a couple of days ago. Nowadays, this type of challenge competition is very popular, and you often organize such competitions. My question is, will future challenges like this need to involve more experts and scientists, so that our challenges will increasingly relate to actual industrial scenarios? What are your thoughts on the AI era? Because we may need AI assistance to solve these challenges. Thank you!

Veronika Soboleva: She is the coach of the Russian ICPC global finals champion.

Ren Zhengfei: Our contact with ICPC was also unexpected. I met the young lady Nika while having coffee by the Moscow River; at that time, she was the director of ICPC, and that’s how we got involved with the ICPC organization. Later, we strengthened our cooperation with ICPC, which helped us gain a window to understand the world. At the same time, it opened your eyes. Why has Russia had ICPC champions for many consecutive years, and why does Google poach you with six times the salary every year? Of course, besides Novosibirsk State University, there are also Saint Petersburg University, ITMO, and Nizhny Novgorod University, among others.

Russia has a very advanced theoretical research foundation. Many countries in the world have developed mathematics, including Russia, France, and the United States. The United States has a mathematics primarily based on immigration; France has a tradition of establishing mathematics as a national foundation since Louis XIV and Napoleon; Russia was influenced by Peter the Great and Catherine the Great... Of course, many other countries also have very developed mathematics We got to know your country about 20 to 30 years ago. I sent people to establish the Moscow Research Institute and asked them to start with solving reliability models. The people we sent said that Russian hardware is too bulky, and I said that reliability is not solely about hardware; software algorithms are mathematics, and mathematics has no weight. From this point, we recognized the great theoretical significance of Russia, so we increased our close cooperation with Russia. Moreover, Russia is very advanced in mathematics, physics, and many theoretical sciences, so we have achieved a certain scale of development in Russia. We respect the talents and technologies of every country, and we have institutions in different countries to cooperate and develop.

12. Question: I come from Romania, Bucharest University. Our university has a very good cooperation with Huawei. One obstacle to expanding this cooperation is that Huawei does not have an engineering organization office or office in Romania. Will Huawei establish corresponding research institutes or development organizations in Romania? Is this a decision made by headquarters or locally?

Ren Zhengfei: Romania is a very great country.

The creativity of Eastern European countries is also very strong. Romania has a deep tradition in mathematics competitions and initiated the famous IMO International Mathematical Olympiad. Romania once exported petroleum engineering technology to China. In the early days, China learned petroleum exploration technology from two countries: one was Romania, and the other was Azerbaijan, when petroleum exploration was still a simulation technology. Romania is one of the birthplaces of modern petroleum industry in Europe, and during the process of petroleum exploration, to prevent what to do after oil depletion, it developed the petroleum exploration equipment manufacturing industry. After the 1990s, China turned to learn digital petroleum exploration technology from the United States, and China's exploration made significant progress. Romania played a huge role in the original period of China's industrial progress, and we still insist on strengthening cooperation with Romania. When European laws permit, we will still increase our development in Europe.

13. Question: I am an undergraduate student, now in my senior year, from Jakarta, Indonesia. I have heard, especially from my professor, about the development of AI technology and AI applications in Indonesia. The professor told me that in Indonesia, the focus of AI is more on utilizing existing technologies rather than seeking new technological breakthroughs. I may further my studies in the future, so I want to ask Mr. Ren what he thinks about this. Do you have any suggestions? Or is there something you would like to say to us young candidates, especially when we want to further our studies in the technology field and work in the technology sector? What suggestions and thoughts do you have?

Ren Zhengfei: I agree with what that professor said. Your most urgent task is not to compete for computing power and world-leading large models but to emphasize "application" leadership, which is suitable for the national conditions of your country. For example, Indonesia has a large number of ports, and ship automation and port automation urgently need to be addressed by artificial intelligence. You are already quite advanced in the application of ships and ports. Secondly, the distance between your islands is about fifty to sixty kilometers, making it easy to establish complete radio communication.

The combination of China's Beidou satellite and Huawei technology provides centimeter-level positioning on Earth, which is suitable for you. When your ships approach the port, it used to be complicated with ropes, but now with electromagnetic technology, they can be easily pulled to the shore, making mooring much simpler Artificial intelligence will certainly play a significant role in the industrial takeoff of Indonesia. This includes how to effectively apply it in agriculture; currently, in some areas of China, farmland is being cultivated without human intervention.

14. Question: I am a professor from Belarus. I have previously participated in some projects, and in the future, there may be places that do not require AI in five years. I would like to ask you if there are any examples where AI will not be needed at all in the future? Because for some students, especially those studying mathematics, it is possible that they may not need AI's help at all and can do things on their own.

Ren Zhengfei: Belarus is very great in thermal theory and technology, having developed advanced heat pipes and magnetorheological polishing technology, because chips must solve thermal issues. In some cutting-edge scientific fields, the reason they are not constrained by the United States is that Belarus has played a significant role in thermal theory. The biggest problem with chips is heat dissipation; if heat cannot be dissipated, the chip's effectiveness cannot be realized. These are all very cutting-edge scientific and engineering problems.

There are huge development opportunities in Belarus, and AI is useful for Belarus. However, AI focuses on application rather than invention; inventing AI is just an IT company, while applying AI can empower a nation. The contribution of IT companies to humanity is only 2%, while AI's contribution to industries can account for 98%, such as in driving, mining, steelmaking, water conservancy, glass, and healthcare... its value contribution is immense. As I mentioned earlier, improving coal washing precision by 0.1%, 0.1% multiplied by 4 billion tons, can you calculate how much that is? Increasing the smelting capacity of blast furnaces by 1%, China consumes tens of billions of tons of coal for 1 billion tons of steel; what a huge amount that is! Therefore, artificial intelligence should be ubiquitous, and how to apply it is the main topic.

15. Question: I was born in Indonesia and am now studying at the University of Toronto. Max Planck created quantum mechanics, and in many Western countries, they are not only discussing AI but also quantum computing. Quantum is now used in the field of encryption, and there are also quantum chips; these are all frontier areas. Quantum chips can break all encryption software, but currently, quantum chips are not stable enough to produce consistent results. However, in the near future, after extensive research, I believe that progress in quantum technology is inevitable. Therefore, I am very curious about China's thoughts on quantum chips; is this an area of interest for Huawei? Will Huawei aim to achieve victory in the competition for quantum chips in the future?

Ren Zhengfei: Thank you, you are a student of Hinton, how great! Nobel Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton is the father of deep learning, and Richard Sutton is a Turing Award winner, both are in the field of artificial intelligence.

Quantum science will eventually break through; quantum will definitely be realized in computing, especially in specific calculations that will bring huge advantages.

The research on quantum computers is a human proposition and a national proposition; Huawei cannot bear the issues of quantum research. However, if quantum computers come out, we may consider purchasing them. As for quantum breaking various encryption systems in the world, we will deal with it when the time comes. Including nuclear fusion, some say "nuclear fusion will definitely succeed," I believe it, but when? I do not know. If nuclear fusion succeeds, all energy revolutions will change. Should we stop building power plants today and wait for nuclear fusion to succeed? Therefore, you see that this year there is still large-scale investment in power system construction Quantum computing will definitely succeed, but we do not know how artificial intelligence will develop in the future. We cannot neglect efforts in other areas today just because of that future.

16. Question: Hello! I am from Japan, previously studied at Tokyo Institute of Technology, and now work in the industry. I am very grateful for the opportunity to gather in this wonderful place, and I appreciate Huawei for providing this opportunity. You just mentioned the rapid development of communication technology; I would like to ask about that. I remember during the pandemic, everyone was working and studying remotely, relying on telecommunications technology for work and study, and now we have returned to our current lives. Everyone can gather together and work in one place. I also agree that face-to-face interaction is much more effective than conference calls. I believe that the ICPC family, where everyone gathers to solve the same problem, is also a very good arrangement and idea. This is very important for connecting people.

My question is, will it be like this for the next ten years? Does Huawei prefer face-to-face communication, or is it through the invention and creation of advanced technology? For example, with Huawei's technological inventions, will everyone return to remote connections, or do you prefer face-to-face connections?

Ren Zhengfei: When Toffler wrote "The Third Wave," he talked about remote work and remote offices. I was young at the time and didn't quite understand it. Is that so? Today it proves to be true. Even if we gather today, it only occupies a tiny fraction of our time; most of the time is still spent on online communication. Without online work, our company would find it hard to survive because we do not have such a large physical space. We form a team; where is this team? In which countries? We don’t know; we just give an appointment, and with an employee number, they connect to a group, and their codes change continuously due to time differences. The pandemic accelerated the popularization of online work, but physical offices will not disappear. Is there a possibility for everyone to meet regularly for coffee? Yes, but at a cost.

The trend of remote networking will not change. We long to return to face-to-face communication; there are opportunities, but they are few. Physical universities are important, and the value of online education is becoming more evident day by day, especially for the rise of geniuses in remote areas, particularly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Radio was invented by Popov, and the wing theory was invented by Zhukovsky. Russia has many inventions, but the Tsar was conservative and did not announce them, leading to unfamiliarity. Watt was not a professor; he was initially a steam engine repairman. Faraday was initially a binder in a printing house, yet they are still world-class greats. Therefore, in the future, we will select talents without restrictions, and the diffusion of online knowledge provides many talents with opportunities to shine.

The internet is certainly important, and face-to-face interaction is needed. We will continue to support the winners of competitions to have the opportunity to meet once, but it may not necessarily be in Shanghai; it could be in other places as well.

Veronika Soboleva: The ICPC is a big family, and of course, the big family should gather. We have dozens of different activities globally throughout the year, and the activities arranged by Huawei are one of them. We are also very grateful for Huawei's arrangements 17. Question: Hello! I am from Germany. I have heard a lot of news related to AI research in the past few days and even before that. I am also interested in quantum computing and communication, so I would like to know how high the priority of AI research is for Huawei? How does it compare to other fields in terms of priority? How many research resources will be shifted from other fields to AI?

Ren Zhengfei: Artificial intelligence was first proposed by Turing. I have met Nobel Prize winner Hinton, who brought it up in the 1980s, but the world did not respond. The earliest application of artificial intelligence was in Germany's Industry 4.0, and what Huawei will research in the next three to five years is equivalent to Germany's Industry 4.0.

AI holds an important position at Huawei, but currently, the most important areas are CT, which includes radio, optical communication, core networks, and data communication... Why? In the future, the perception and control of AI will need to transmit data thousands of kilometers away, which requires an advanced network. For AI to truly generate value, it needs collaboration from the entire society to leverage each other's strengths. Without a network, computing power becomes an information island, and isolated AI cannot achieve true intelligence.

18. Question: I study at the National University of Singapore. Thank you very much for today's event and for communicating with us. The United States has recruited many top talents from around the world, even from small countries, and has sent people to bring talents back. I agree with this positive power law distribution, as seen in computer science, where academia and entrepreneurs believe this. These students can drive the development of industries and society, so I think for companies to become the best, they need to compete for these talents. However, these good students have many choices, and the best may go to financial companies to work in hedge funds because they offer more money. Do you agree with this statement?

First of all, is it important to attract talent globally? What are China's plans, and what are Huawei's plans to compete for these top talents, even though they have various choices? Despite language and cultural differences and facing such challenges, they are still willing to come to China and Huawei. What plans does China have? What plans does Huawei have?

Ren Zhengfei: The soil in the United States is suitable for growing crops, and it is a good thing that a large number of talents grow in the U.S., including many young people from China who go to the U.S. to take root and participate in creating new technological civilizations. The founders of Google are Russian, and the Android they created is enjoyed by the whole world! China also benefits from it. There is no denying that companies like Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Intel are creating value for our country. The U.S. only prohibits Huawei from using products containing American elements, which does not mean it prohibits China or the world from using them. Therefore, the influx of global talent to the U.S. to create a technological civilization is beneficial for world progress. As for their personal talents being valued in the U.S. and enjoying life there, that is understandable.

The technological civilization created by the U.S. is not harmful to the world; it is beneficial. We should also support the development of American technological civilization because if the U.S. creates technological civilization and locks it away from others, how will it make money? In the process of making money from you, it also promotes the progress of your industry Without European civilization, how could we possibly have cars, trains, ships...?

The United States only sanctions Huawei, and most Chinese companies are not sanctioned, still able to use American technology, tools, ecosystems, instruments, chips, and wafers... This is beneficial for the development of China's industry. We also yearn for globalization, to enjoy standing on the shoulders of giants; our self-reliance is forced upon us. Relying entirely on ourselves cannot compete with globalization; we are at least one generation behind the chips used by domestic companies in many aspects...

China is relatively backward, of course, it needs to rise and absorb some talent. The current environment is much better than when we were young. Young people are so happy, so sunny, so full of energy... Now there is also a soil and opportunity for talent in China, many young people are starting businesses here, but we are still slow in catching up with the United States.

As a company, Huawei cannot accommodate too many people; it may not be able to sustain them and might even have to lay off employees. Our communication with ICPC is not driven by any purpose; it is not to say "all talents come to us," but you may not be able to play your role working here because geniuses need a platform. Of course, the food in Singapore is quite similar to ours.

Therefore, from the current situation, China needs to be more open, learn from all civilized countries in the world, and welcome the world's civilizations; we cannot close ourselves off. Opening up and reforming has opened the country's doors, allowing the world's civilizations to come in, which has not caused a clash of civilizations; instead, civilizations have combined to create a value that is today's new China. Openness has made China rich, but what kind of richness? It's still not enough; China's wealth needs to have quality. The Central Committee has proposed "new quality productivity," which means you need to "get fit," strengthen your "muscles" so that we can do better. Our products need to be of high quality; wouldn't the people of the world welcome us? If our products go abroad and the quality is not good enough, everyone will say Chinese products are poor, and China will have no international market, hindering its development.

Our company used to be a small closed company, working slowly behind closed doors, and now we are gradually opening up. A few years ago, I met Nika by the Moscow River, and through you, I got to know seven or eight hundred people; these are the links, the ties between different countries, and the link of Huawei began. Mathematics has no borders, theories have no borders; when you publish papers, we see them and use them; when we publish papers, you can also see them. Our communication platform is the "Huang Darnian Tea Thinking House" online platform, where you can call someone with a shared perspective, and suddenly someone might appear in Iceland, completing communication through a global technological network platform.

Veronika Soboleva: Thank you very much, Mr. Ren, for your inspiring speech, especially about the integration of different civilizations, which is the philosophy that ICPC firmly believes in. No matter which country you were born in, you can become part of the ICPC family. Thank you all very much