Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei: US tech is great, but we have to build our own
The 80-year-old CEO talks about Huawei’s struggles and his admiration for US technology in a conversation with students
Ren, 80, said Huawei needs to learn from the receptive culture of the US, which has allowed the country to become highly advanced in science and technology, according to a transcript of his recent conversation with students and academics. It was published on Thursday on the website of the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC), a prestigious global coding competition for university students.
“The US has set an example for all countries and companies worldwide on being open,” he said at the Huawei-sponsored event. “If [a country] is closed off, it will fall behind.”
Since then, Huawei has transformed itself into a major force supporting China’s self-sufficiency drive, in areas ranging from artificial-intelligence (AI) chips to operating systems.