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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
On Chinese student visa rollback, MAGA scores another victory over tech
The Trump administration's move Wednesday night to revoke Chinese students' visas created another political headache for a powerful industry already struggling to deal with the White House's barrage of changes to trade and visa policies. Although the announcement was light on details, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared Wednesday that the U.S. will 'aggressively revoke' visas for Chinese students, singling out students 'studying in critical fields.' Computer science, math and engineering top the list of subjects that Chinese students study in the U.S. — areas that could well be in the crosshairs of national security concerns. They're also of central importance to the tech industry, which relies enormously on foreign-born talent. 'This is not just going after one of 10 different pathways into the U.S.,' Jeremy Neufeld, director of immigration policy at the Institute for Progress, told DFD. 'It's going after the primary way that we are recruiting talent, and it is going to significantly reduce the amount of talent that we are able to recruit.' A remarkable 70 percent of Silicon Valley's highly educated tech employees are from overseas, according to a recent study from a regional think tank — and of that group, China supplies more than any country except India. Eighteen percent of those employees are currently Chinese-born. It's not clear how many of them literally came as college or graduate students, but at a moment when the U.S. is locked in a tech race with China, kicking out Chinese students strikes many industry observers as an ill-timed own goal. 'This is, frankly, going to play into the Chinese's hands,' Rob Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, told POLITICO. 'They're going to ramp up the research and teaching quality of their universities even more, so that in 10 years even if we were begging them to send their students, they're going to say, 'Nah, we're not going to do that.' ' But the tech industry is — so far — largely keeping quiet about the policy. Of the numerous Big Tech companies and affiliated groups contacted by POLITICO in the wake of Rubio's announcement, almost none were willing to go on the record Thursday. Meta, Google, Microsoft and Nvidia formally declined to comment. Tesla, Amazon and Apple didn't respond to POLITICO's emails. Their silence speaks to the political squeeze that the industry finds itself in after largely accommodating itself to Trump — and even, for many leaders, pledging their explicit support for the president. The argument over foreign tech workers began to stir up drama between the MAGA and techie wings of the GOP before Trump even took office for the second time. In the months between the election and Jan. 20, Elon Musk and Steve Bannon — both Trump supporters — found themselves embroiled in a high-profile public debate over H1-B visas, which allow companies to bring high-skilled workers to the United States. Musk, a champion of the visas, argued that although flawed, the program was necessary to compete with China and other high-tech nations; Bannon argued in nationalist terms that the program should be abolished entirely in favor of nurturing homegrown talent. The visa move looks like another win for the Bannon wing. DFD reached out to influential voices in the right-leaning parts of the tech world — thinkers and investors who had supported Trump as a vehicle for accelerating American competitiveness. Like the Big Tech firms, they wanted no part of this conversation. Andreessen Horowitz, the venture capital firm whose employees pepper the Trump administration and whose 'American Dynamism' portfolio emphasizes a high-tech, pro-industrial vision of state capacity, simply pointed POLITICO to a blog post about 'talent' that made no mention of student visas or foreign workers. Julius Krein, the conservative policy wonk who argues for a strong government hand in building competitive national industries, declined to comment, telling DFD it's 'not really an issue I have any meaningful insight on.' The Foundation for American Innovation declined to comment beyond pointing DFD to an essay by senior fellow Dan Lips promoting broad reforms to the student visa program. One industry figure who did weigh in: Josh Wolfe, partner and co-founder at venture capital firm Lux Capital, who called the visa policy shortsighted — and, like Atkinson, saw it as something of a gift to China. 'If we make it harder for the world's best minds to stay and build here, we're not just stifling startups, we're underwriting our competitors,' he said. 'Talent is national security. We should act like it.' The Bannonite contingent within the Republican Party has the advantage of a very simple message: Jobs in America should go to Americans, tech or otherwise. But the economic and geopolitical reality the country's biggest industries have to navigate isn't quite that simple. Americans, at least for now, are not qualified to do many of the jobs required to meet the administration's goal of besting China on the world stage. 'China graduates over 50 percent of the world's AI undergrads,' said Wolfe, whose firm invests in AI companies, 'and America's share of international students has dropped from 23 percent to 15 percent over two decades. That's less a statistic and more like strategic surrender.' China has four times the population of the United States, and a massive advantage when it comes to STEM education. According to a report from research firm fDi Intelligence, China graduated more STEM PhDs than the United States starting in 2007, and doubled the American number by 2022. Chinese industry is making huge strides in AI and microchip development, not to mention other fields like advanced biotech. With that background, it's not just policy wonks who are concerned about the Trump administration's hard-line nationalist policies putting America on its back foot. Though he didn't weigh in Thursday, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang — whose company produces the advanced microchips at the center of an ongoing trade war with China — warned Jim Cramer in a recent interview that China is 'filling the gap we left and growing exponentially.' 'The only way we have a real chance at keeping up here is by using our advantage that we don't have to just rely on people here, we can rely on the best and brightest from around the world,' the IFP's Neufeld said. 'It's disappointing people aren't willing to talk about this,' he said. 'We need a balanced approach if we're not going to just forfeit the technological competition.' Anthony Adragna, Daniella Cheslow, Gabby Miller and Christine Mui contributed to this report.
Politico
3 days ago
- Business
- Politico
On Chinese student visa rollback, MAGA scores another victory over tech
The Trump administration's move Wednesday night to revoke Chinese students' visas created another political headache for a powerful industry already struggling to deal with the White House's barrage of changes to trade and visa policies. Although the announcement was light on details, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared Wednesday that the U.S. will 'aggressively revoke' visas for Chinese students, singling out students 'studying in critical fields.' Computer science, math and engineering top the list of subjects that Chinese students study in the U.S. — areas that could well be in the crosshairs of national security concerns. They're also of central importance to the tech industry, which relies enormously on foreign-born talent. 'This is not just going after one of 10 different pathways into the U.S.,' Jeremy Neufeld, director of immigration policy at the Institute for Progress, told DFD. 'It's going after the primary way that we are recruiting talent, and it is going to significantly reduce the amount of talent that we are able to recruit.' A remarkable 70 percent of Silicon Valley's highly educated tech employees are from overseas, according to a recent study from a regional think tank — and of that group, China supplies more than any country except India. Eighteen percent of those employees are currently Chinese-born. It's not clear how many of them literally came as college or graduate students, but at a moment when the U.S. is locked in a tech race with China, kicking out Chinese students strikes many industry observers as an ill-timed own goal. 'This is, frankly, going to play into the Chinese's hands,' Rob Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, told POLITICO. 'They're going to ramp up the research and teaching quality of their universities even more, so that in 10 years even if we were begging them to send their students, they're going to say, 'Nah, we're not going to do that.' ' But the tech industry is — so far — largely keeping quiet about the policy. Of the numerous Big Tech companies and affiliated groups contacted by POLITICO in the wake of Rubio's announcement, almost none were willing to go on the record Thursday. Meta, Google, Microsoft and Nvidia formally declined to comment. Tesla, Amazon and Apple didn't respond to POLITICO's emails. Their silence speaks to the political squeeze that the industry finds itself in after largely accommodating itself to Trump — and even, for many leaders, pledging their explicit support for the president. The argument over foreign tech workers began to stir up drama between the MAGA and techie wings of the GOP before Trump even took office for the second time. In the months between the election and Jan. 20, Elon Musk and Steve Bannon — both Trump supporters — found themselves embroiled in a high-profile public debate over H1-B visas, which allow companies to bring high-skilled workers to the United States. Musk, a champion of the visas, argued that although flawed, the program was necessary to compete with China and other high-tech nations; Bannon argued in nationalist terms that the program should be abolished entirely in favor of nurturing homegrown talent. The visa move looks like another win for the Bannon wing. DFD reached out to influential voices in the right-leaning parts of the tech world — thinkers and investors who had supported Trump as a vehicle for accelerating American competitiveness. Like the Big Tech firms, they wanted no part of this conversation. Andreessen Horowitz, the venture capital firm whose employees pepper the Trump administration and whose 'American Dynamism' portfolio emphasizes a high-tech, pro-industrial vision of state capacity, simply pointed POLITICO to a blog post about 'talent' that made no mention of student visas or foreign workers. Julius Krein, the conservative policy wonk who argues for a strong government hand in building competitive national industries, declined to comment, telling DFD it's 'not really an issue I have any meaningful insight on.' The Foundation for American Innovation declined to comment beyond pointing DFD to an essay by senior fellow Dan Lips promoting broad reforms to the student visa program. One industry figure who did weigh in: Josh Wolfe, partner and co-founder at venture capital firm Lux Capital, who called the visa policy shortsighted — and, like Atkinson, saw it as something of a gift to China. 'If we make it harder for the world's best minds to stay and build here, we're not just stifling startups, we're underwriting our competitors,' he said. 'Talent is national security. We should act like it.' The Bannonite contingent within the Republican Party has the advantage of a very simple message: Jobs in America should go to Americans, tech or otherwise. But the economic and geopolitical reality the country's biggest industries have to navigate isn't quite that simple. Americans, at least for now, are not qualified to do many of the jobs required to meet the administration's goal of besting China on the world stage. 'China graduates over 50 percent of the world's AI undergrads,' said Wolfe, whose firm invests in AI companies, 'and America's share of international students has dropped from 23 percent to 15 percent over two decades. That's less a statistic and more like strategic surrender.' China has four times the population of the United States, and a massive advantage when it comes to STEM education. According to a report from research firm fDi Intelligence, China graduated more STEM PhDs than the United States starting in 2007, and doubled the American number by 2022. Chinese industry is making huge strides in AI and microchip development, not to mention other fields like advanced biotech. With that background, it's not just policy wonks who are concerned about the Trump administration's hard-line nationalist policies putting America on its back foot. Though he didn't weigh in Thursday, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang — whose company produces the advanced microchips at the center of an ongoing trade war with China — warned Jim Cramer in a recent interview that China is 'filling the gap we left and growing exponentially.' 'The only way we have a real chance at keeping up here is by using our advantage that we don't have to just rely on people here, we can rely on the best and brightest from around the world,' the IFP's Neufeld said. 'It's disappointing people aren't willing to talk about this,' he said. 'We need a balanced approach if we're not going to just forfeit the technological competition.' Anthony Adragna, Daniella Cheslow, Gabby Miller and Christine Mui contributed to this report.
Politico
3 days ago
- Business
- Politico
On Chinese student visas, MAGA scores another victory over tech
With help from Daniella Cheslow, Gabby Miller and Christine Mui The Trump administration's move Wednesday night to revoke Chinese students' visas created another political headache for a powerful industry already struggling to deal with the White House's barrage of changes to trade and visa policies. Although the announcement was light on details, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared today that the U.S. will 'aggressively revoke' visas for Chinese students, singling out students 'studying in critical fields.' Computer science, math and engineering top the list of subjects that Chinese students study in the U.S. — areas that could well be in the crosshairs of national security concerns. They're also of central importance to the tech industry, which relies enormously on foreign-born talent. 'This is not just going after one of 10 different pathways into the U.S.,' Jeremy Neufeld, director of immigration policy at the Institute for Progress, told DFD. 'It's going after the primary way that we are recruiting talent, and it is going to significantly reduce the amount of talent that we are able to recruit.' A remarkable 70 percent of Silicon Valley's highly educated tech employees are from overseas, according to a recent study from a regional think tank — and of that group, China supplies more than any country except India. Eighteen percent of those employees are currently Chinese-born. It's not clear how many of them literally came as college or graduate students, but at a moment when the U.S. is locked in a tech race with China, kicking out Chinese students strikes many industry observers as an ill-timed own goal. 'This is, frankly, going to play into the Chinese's hands,' Rob Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, told POLITICO. 'They're going to ramp up the research and teaching quality of their universities even more, so that in 10 years even if we were begging them to send their students, they're going to say, 'Nah, we're not going to do that.' ' But the tech industry is — so far — largely keeping quiet about the policy. Of the numerous Big Tech companies and affiliated groups contacted by POLITICO in the wake of Rubio's announcement, almost none were willing to go on the record today. Meta, Google, Microsoft and Nvidia formally declined to comment. Tesla, Amazon and Apple didn't respond to POLITICO's emails. Their silence speaks to the political squeeze that the industry finds itself in after largely accommodating itself to Trump — and even, for many leaders, pledging their explicit support for the president. The argument over foreign tech workers began to stir up drama between the MAGA and techie wings of the GOP before Trump even took office for the second time. In the months between the election and Jan. 20, Elon Musk and Steve Bannon — both Trump supporters — found themselves embroiled in a high-profile public debate over H1-B visas, which allow companies to bring high-skilled workers to the United States. Musk, a champion of the visas, argued that although flawed, the program was necessary to compete with China and other high-tech nations; Bannon argued in nationalist terms that the program should be abolished entirely in favor of nurturing homegrown talent. The visa move looks like another win for the Bannon wing. Today, DFD reached out to influential voices in the right-leaning parts of the tech world — thinkers and investors who had supported Trump as a vehicle for accelerating American competitiveness. Like the Big Tech firms, they wanted no part of this conversation. Andreessen Horowitz, the venture capital firm whose employees pepper the Trump administration and whose 'American Dynamism' portfolio emphasizes a high-tech, pro-industrial vision of state capacity, simply pointed POLITICO to a blog post about 'talent' that made no mention of student visas or foreign workers. Julius Krein, the conservative policy wonk who argues for a strong government hand in building competitive national industries, declined to comment, telling DFD it's 'not really an issue I have any meaningful insight on.' The Foundation for American Innovation declined to comment beyond pointing DFD to an essay by senior fellow Dan Lips promoting broad reforms to the student visa program. One industry figure who did weigh in: Josh Wolfe, partner and co-founder at venture capital firm Lux Capital, who called the visa policy shortsighted — and, like Atkinson, saw it as something of a gift to China. 'If we make it harder for the world's best minds to stay and build here, we're not just stifling startups, we're underwriting our competitors,' he said. 'Talent is national security. We should act like it.' The Bannonite contingent within the Republican Party has the advantage of a very simple message: Jobs in America should go to Americans, tech or otherwise. But the economic and geopolitical reality the country's biggest industries have to navigate isn't quite that simple. Americans, at least for now, are not qualified to do many of the jobs required to meet the administration's goal of besting China on the world stage. 'China graduates over 50 percent of the world's AI undergrads,' said Wolfe, whose firm invests in AI companies, 'and America's share of international students has dropped from 23 percent to 15 percent over two decades. That's less a statistic and more like strategic surrender.' China has four times the population of the United States, and a massive advantage when it comes to STEM education. According to a report from research firm fDi Intelligence, China graduated more STEM PhDs than the United States starting in 2007, and doubled the American number by 2022. Chinese industry is making huge strides in AI and microchip development, not to mention other fields like advanced biotech. With that background, it's not just policy wonks who are concerned about the Trump administration's hard-line nationalist policies putting America on its back foot. Though he didn't weigh in today, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang — whose company produces the advanced microchips at the center of today's trade wars with China —- warned Jim Cramer in a recent interview that China is 'filling the gap we left and growing exponentially.' 'The only way we have a real chance at keeping up here is by using our advantage that we don't have to just rely on people here, we can rely on the best and brightest from around the world,' the IFP's Neufeld said. 'It's disappointing people aren't willing to talk about this,' he said. 'We need a balanced approach if we're not going to just forfeit the technological competition.' Daniella Cheslow, Gabby Miller and Christine Mui contributed to this report. a new face at lpo A former bitcoin miner now has a prominent perch at the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office. E&E News' Brian Dabbs reported today that Greg Beard, an energy investor who ran Stronghold Digital Mining until March, is now a top-ranking political appointee at the LPO. The office provides loans for energy infrastructure projects, and wonks across the political spectrum are trying to save it from congressional budget cuts. With Beard onboard, the LPO has reached out to Bank of America to assess the market value of billions of dollars worth of DOE loans — which some staffers say is a potential move toward selling them and downsizing the office. Brian also reports that Beard has been discussed as a replacement to current LPO acting Director Lane Genatowski, a DOE veteran. openai turns up the heat OpenAI wants to scrutinize a nonprofit it suspects is tied to Elon Musk and his challenge to the company's corporate restructuring. POLITICO's Chase DiFeliciantonio reported for Pro subscribers Wednesday on a subpoena OpenAI sent earlier this month to the Coalition for Artificial Intelligence Nonprofit Integrity demanding to know more about the group's funding and any potential ties to Musk. CANI has argued money OpenAI has accrued for nonprofit purposes should be used as such, and also backed a California bill that threatened OpenAI's restructuring plans. Becky Warren, a spokesperson for CANI, called the subpoena part of OpenAI's 'bullying tactics,' and has asserted that it's a grassroots group not funded by Musk. post of the day THE FUTURE IN 5 LINKS Stay in touch with the whole team: Derek Robertson (drobertson@ Mohar Chatterjee (mchatterjee@ Steve Heuser (sheuser@ Nate Robson (nrobson@ and Daniella Cheslow (dcheslow@
News18
6 days ago
- Business
- News18
Walmart Layoffs 2025: US Giant Cuts 1,500 Jobs After Granting 3,800 H-1B Visas, Faces Public Outcry
Last Updated: Walmart Layoffs 2025: The downsizing primarily affects Walmart's global technology team and certain advertising roles, impacting fewer than 1,500 employees overall. Walmart Layoffs 2025: Walmart Inc., the world's largest retailer and one of the biggest private employers in the United States, has initiated significant layoffs targeting its corporate staff. These job cuts are part of Walmart's ongoing strategy to streamline operations and reduce costs in a volatile economic environment. With over 1.6 million employees in the U.S., Walmart is now focusing on reshaping its corporate and technological divisions to enhance efficiency and adaptability. A debate has been erupted since the Walmart layoff reports, with netizens accusing the largest retailer for replacing Americans with foreign workers. Coincidentally, the layoffs came after Walmart reportedly granted 3,800 H1-B visas, which is an employer-sponsored nonimmigrant vias that allows persons who are not citizens or permanent residents of the US to work in a specialty occupation for up to six years with very limited exceptions. The downsizing primarily affects Walmart's global technology team and certain advertising roles, impacting fewer than 1,500 employees overall. According to insider sources cited by Bloomberg, the layoffs have begun at Walmart's Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters and other offices. This broader initiative aims to improve operational efficiency and cut costs during ongoing economic uncertainty. Leadership's Rationale For Layoffs Oh, guess what? The large layoffs today at Walmart… are from its _technology team_. You know, the kind of US worker who's _replaced_ by H1B. — barbaragrantmedia (@bgrantmedia) May 22, 2025 Additionally, a photo of Walmart's Global CTO, Suresh Kumar, was shared by another user who questioned whether it was coincidental that more than 40% of the company's IT workforce reportedly comprised H-1B hires from India. Another comment highlighted, 'Walmart has nearly 3,500 H-1B openings. This isn't 'high skilled.' They're intentionally replacing American workers with foreigners." First Published:
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
H-1B visa slump; EaseMyTrip CEO under ED lens
H-1B visa slump; EaseMyTrip CEO under ED lens Also in the letter: US H-1B visa registrations hit lowest level since FY22 amid Trump policies, fee hike Numberwise: Shortlisted applications dropped 27% to 120,141, from which 85,000 H-1B visas will be issued. In FY25, 479,953 applications were filed, with 135,137 shortlisted. The year before, 780,884 applications were submitted, with 188,400 shortlisted. Tell me more: The sharp rise in the H1-B registration fee—from $10 to $215—has been the biggest deterrent, said Poorvi Chothani, founder and managing partner at US immigration firm LawQuest. India remains one of the top recipients of the 85,000 H-1B visas issued annually. These visas are widely used by US and Indian IT firms to deploy skilled workers. Also Read: ED probes EaseMyTrip CEO in Mahadev app betting scam Under fire: Allegations: Pitti was aware of the operations of Sky Exchange, an illegal betting platform linked to the Mahadev app. His firm made payments to two shell companies associated with the app. Rs 7 lakh, recovered from Pitti's residence during ED raids in April, is believed to be potential proceeds of crime. Pitti was allegedly in contact with an operator who was involved in colluding with promoters of the aforementioned listed entities. The other side: Hitting turbulence: In April, the ED searched premises linked to Pitti as part of multi-state raids across 55 locations in the money laundering case. Pitti stepped down as CEO on January 1, citing personal reasons. Nazara Technologies acquires UK's console gaming publisher Curve Games for Rs 247 crore The details: This is Nazara's biggest overseas acquisition so far. The deal gives the Nitish Mittersain-led company full ownership of Curve Games. Curve boasts a strong portfolio of indie games, including Human: Fall Flat and For the King. Its games have collectively garnered over 100 million downloads worldwide. Rationale: Deal streak: Mobikwik's net loss widens to Rs 55 crore as revenue growth remains flat Financials: Operating revenue stood at Rs 265 crore in the March quarter, nearly unchanged from Rs 268 crore in December. Lending-related expenses rose sharply to Rs 41 crore from Rs 27 crore. For FY25, the company posted a net loss of Rs 122 crore, a reversal from the Rs 9.3 crore profit reported in FY24. However, operating revenue for FY25 grew 31% to Rs 1,164 crore, up from Rs 884 crore the previous year. Future outlook: Also Read: Microsoft strikes deal with Elon Musk to host Grok AI What this means: Other announcements: H-1B visa applications for FY26 dropped 25% as higher visa fees and a weak US economy dampened demand. This and more in today's ETtech Top 5.■ Nazara's latest acquisition■ Mobikwik's Q4 financials■ Microsoft's deal with Elon MuskThe number of H-1B visa applications for FY26 fell 25% to 358,737 compared to the previous year, according to data from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).Nishant Pitti, CEO, EaseMyTripNishant Pitti, CEO of travel booking platform EaseMyTrip, is under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding the Mahadev betting app stands accused of colluding with a network of operators who allegedly channelled funds from the illegal betting operation to manipulate stock prices of 25 listed companies, purportedly in coordination with their its submission to the adjudicating authority (AA), the ED has made the following claims:Pitti has denied all allegations. He said, 'There have been no remittances or payments to these companies since 2017…With eight earning members at home and over Rs 1,000 crore in IT returns, our declared cash is more than Rs 70 lakh. The Rs 7 lakh recovered is insignificant compared to our income.'Nitish Mittersain, CEO, Nazara TechnologiesOnline gaming company Nazara Technologies has acquired UK-based PC and console game publisher Curve Games in a deal worth Rs 247 crore (approximately $28.8 million) to strengthen its presence in the global acquisition supports Nazara's strategic move to diversify beyond mobile gaming into the more lucrative PC and console gaming market, which is valued at over $100 billion told us that this is a big opportunity for India, where more game developers are building for PC platforms.'Much of our capital allocation will now happen on core gaming businesses in terms of gaming studios, gaming IPs, and publishing,' he reported in April that Nazara has earmarked Rs 800-1,000 crore this year for inorganic growth with a clear focus on acquiring global gaming companies.(L-R) Bipin Preet Singh and Upasana Taku, cofounders, MobikwikFintech firm One Mobikwik Systems, which operates the Mobikwik payments app, reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 55 crore for the March quarter , up from Rs 52.3 crore in expects its lending business to rebound only after the second quarter of FY26. The company noted that its revenue take rate for financial services improved to 7.5% from 6% through better negotiations with its lending Nadella, CEO, Microsoft and Elon Musk, CEO, xAIElon Musk, currently embroiled in a legal dispute with Microsoft, made a surprisingly cordial virtual appearance at the tech giant's annual technology showcase to announce that his AI chatbot Grok will be hosted on Microsoft's data centres Under this agreement, xAI's Grok models will run on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform, joining a roster that already includes models from OpenAI, Meta, DeepSeek, and French AI startup move also highlights the evolving dynamics between Microsoft and OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, which Microsoft has heavily backed. Just last week, Microsoft unveiled its own directly competing AI the developer platform backed by Microsoft, launched its own AI agent designed to help developers fix bugs and write cleaner code. OpenAI teased a similar agent, Codex , while Google DeepMind introduced its own entrant in the space, an AI coding agent named AlphaEvolve
