President Trump says he wants the United States to be a world leader in AI development, but the immigration policies of his administration could interfere with this objective.
Leila Fadel, host:
President Trump said he wanted the United States to be a world leader in artificial intelligence, but other parties of the president’s agenda could interfere with this. Reports from the correspondent for the White House NPR, Deepa Shivaram.
Deepa Shivaram, Byline: President Trump says he wants the United States to dominate the AI breed, especially when it comes to beat competitors like China. Here, he talks about the plan of his administration on AI earlier this summer.
(Soundbit of archived registration)
President Donald Trump: Because we will not allow any foreign nation to fight, our children will not live on a planet controlled by the algorithms of the adversaries who advance the values.
Shivaram: But there are people in the AI industry who are concerned about something that is lacking in terms of Trump’s AI. There is no mention of support for immigrant workers and international students who have always been the backbone of AI development in the United States, and the administration’s immigration policies make it more difficult for these groups to come to the United States to work and study.
Usama Fayyad: Many companies recognize that they really need a lot of foreign talents to make things happen. There is no shame in there. This is how it has been since the Second World War, and perhaps slightly before that.
Shivaram: It’s Usama Fayyad, Vice-Prévôt at the Northeastern University in Boston. He worked in the field of AI for three decades. He says that immigration restrictions have deep consequences for IA innovation when it comes to hiring and keeping talents and keeping companies based in the United States
Fayyad: Without talent, you are not going to go anywhere, right? Do you unroll the staff with second and third order talents? What happens to you as a business when you get there? Well, you become less effective, less competitive, less innovative.
Shivaram: The recent administration cuts for research and financing places like the National Science Foundation will also have a negative impact, explains Nicol Turner Lee. She heads the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution.
Nicol Turner Lee: I worry that the more we do for this purpose, we actually feed China’s ability to recruit and keep many of these students, including those in the United States who consider it, you know, in a way, because they are not able to have the research money they need to do the work they want to do.
Shivaram: Supporters of the President’s agenda argued that the United States should not have to rely on foreign talents to develop AI technology, and the administration has argued some foreign students, such as those who come from China, could present a risk of national security. The White House did not respond to requests for comments from this story, but Trump himself said in the elections in 2024 that he wanted to help foreign students stay in America after their studies. Here is Trump who speaks to the podcast “all-in” last year, who is animated by several people in the interior technological circle of Trump, some of whom are immigrants. In this episode, the technological investor Jason Calacanis speaks to Trump.
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Jason Calacanis: Can you promise us to give us more ability to import the best and most brilliant in the world in America?
Trump: I promise it, but I agree. This is why I promise it. Otherwise, I don’t promise.
Shivaram: Trump continued by saying that he wanted each graduate of the university to receive a green card with his diploma. But for the moment, eight months after his second term, Trump has not kept this promise. In fact, he continued to make international students more difficult to stay. For the moment, they can stay in the country as long as they are registered as a student. But the Ministry of Internal Security proposed a new rule that ceased their visas at four years before having to reapply. However, there have been some policy changes, especially since commercial negotiations with China are evolving. Trump recently announced that he would authorize 600,000 Chinese students to obtain visas to study in the United States over the next two years.
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Trump: I like their students to come here. I like students from other countries to come here. And you know what would happen if they didn’t? Our university system would go to hell very quickly.
Shivaram: This is a step back on what his own State Department was trying to do a few months ago when he announced that he would revoke the visas of Chinese students.
Deepa Shivaram, NPR News, Washington.
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