Google urges US to update immigration rules to attract more AI talent
theverge.com
theverge.com
I find it much more likely that Google is merely whining. They're providing an excuse in the form of "not enough AI workers" for getting more cheap imported labor rather than simply hiring and training more expensive, local talent.
Take a look at the current AI landscape in the US. Almost everyone at the top of the field is a first generation immigrant, who managed to make it in while the process was still easy. It's wild that people see the clear benefits of their work to the economy and to US supremacy and then turn around and say that we need to stop importing talent because it takes away domestic jobs.
As for the "what have US colleges been doing" question – take a look at the nationalities of research departments at any major university in the country. The smartest people come here from all over the world to study, and are now promptly sent home with all the knowledge they gained because we don't let them put that knowledge to work here.
Oh right, brain drain is a foreign policy strategy to keep other countries down and America strong. Right, shutting up now.
You are and that realization will eventually hurt.
I want people to succeed - in their home countries. That's fine, let them do that. I'm also a fan of legal immigration - you come here by the book, throw on the jersey, you're on the team. That's fine too. If you don't do that though, I'm not only not a fan but those people shouldn't be here.
If you're a fan of legal immigration, that's great - then certainly you agree that we ought to increase it rather than restrict it.
If someone with a PhD and decades worth of research and practical experience in cutting-edge ML/AI/semiconductor tech wants to immigrate to the US, it's idiotic to put them in the same lottery as a $50K/yr "IT consultant" from Infosys. This is exactly why the US completely lost its edge in hi-tech manufacturing and is now losing ground in software/apps as well.
You want your junior engineers to have jobs and gain skills? Maybe don't say no to the best talent from across the world who can mentor them.
But yes, junior talent has relatively little value in a winner-takes-all field, while top talent, disproportionately large value.
What? I'm no expert but in basically every field and endeavor, it seems to me like all the PRC does is copy others, but have little to no legitimate homegrown innovation, and lots of "research" being basically fake and fluff.
+ even if PRC was the global hub for AI innovation, for obvious reasons, I'm not sure it would be wise for the US to import that talent.
1) Language. Much of the stuff (including e.g. variable names and comments in code) are Chinese.
2) Communication style. Even in English, things are just organized differently.
3) Culture and national differences. The issues you mentioned are real; academic publishing in China is even more problematic than in the US. (We have our own issues, which are at least as severe; just different. Every place has issues).
4) Looking in US-style sources in China, and vice-versa, isn't likely to lead to optimal outcomes.
Those and others means things are often lost in translation, but at the core, once you learn to bridge those, the quality of the better work there is very, very good.
well yes, but selective immigration is eugenics with extra steps.
Deeply cynical play for low cost labor.
The harshness of the US immigration system has little to do with how easy/hard it is to let people in. The issues arise with how restrictive the visas are, once you get in.
> He adds Google employees have often had to leave the US while waiting for the PERM process to finish and for their green cards to be approved.
This is clearly meant to point toward Indians and Chinese. Waiting 50+ years for a green card betrays the intentions of the legislation and creates uncecessary misery for everyone involved.
Bringing top AI talent to the US is easy. Do a masters, pay the $100k entry-fee to the university and get your 3 year permission to work in the US. But that's where the process becomes an anxiety inducing mess. First you have to win a 'lottery' with a 30% success rate. Then, you have to go through a 2-ish year long process through mountains of paper work to do your Green Card application. Then wait one more year to get an acknolwedgement (I-140), which puts you in a 50+ year long queue.
Now, if you want to make a minor change in job role, location, company, start a startup....doesn't matter. Do this expensive process all over again. Oh yeah, did I mention that the embassy stamping officer, the airport agent, the application form evaluator and your employer can arbitrarily drop you any day ? Now, that's fine if I'm 25 and single. But, one day I'll be 40 with kids, still on this stupid H1b/Greencard-queue and my life can get uprooted overnight.
It is the an all-too-literal instance of golden handcuffs.
If you want immigrants, then let in immigrants. If you want fewer immigrants, then then let in fewer immigrants. If you want better immigrants, then raise the bar. If you want temporary workers, then make it impossible for H1b folks to apply to greencards. All are sensible approaches. But the US system lures you in with the promise of a better life, and uniquely screws you over if you just so happen to be Indian.
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All that being said, the tech market clearly has too many unemployed citizens as of 2024. I am suspicious of more immigration being the answer. I know people from top-10 CS universities graduating with no jobs. If Google is so desperate, then lower your bar to 2020-era levels, and train up these junior engineers to your required level of competence. If Google wants true experts, then the O1 already exists.
I'm lucky enough to be considered 'senior' (whatever that means in tech) technical person now. And I thank my lucky stars for it. This is the most brutal 'junior' market that I have seen since the early-2010s.
> All that being said, the tech market clearly has too many unemployed citizens as of 2024.
Big Tech is now in a permanent layoffs mode. This too is solely to suppress wages and, as you mention, this is a huge issue for people who are on work visas.
I personally think that anyone who has done layoffs in the last 12 months shouldn't be eligible to sponsor any work visas at all.
The US is kind of caught in a bind here: they want companies to continue doing R&D here, and that means being competitive with respect to immigration. But at the same time, they want to encourage employment of existing residents/citizens, without being so restrictive that those jobs just move to other countries anyways.
So hasn't that already happened?
I would bet Google in India is similar, but I have no information on compensation there so couldn’t tell for sure.
Fixed it for Google.
If they need AI experts from Asia: https://about.google/intl/ALL_us/locations/?region=asia-paci....
If they need AI experts from Europe: https://about.google/intl/ALL_us/locations/?region=europe
This isn't that hard. They just want cheap labor that they are holding hostage with their visas.
Please, keep paying high salaries.
> Competition for AI talent has been intense, with companies often poaching engineers and researchers.
> Wages for AI specialists soared, with OpenAI allegedly paying researchers up to $10 million.
This is not a bug, this is the expected behavior. Artificially raising the supply of AI talent through immigration is market manipulation.