According to Nome Brown, the company’s leading research scientist, Kai Chen, a Canadian AI researcher who works at Open-Ee, who lived in the US for 12 years, was denied a green card. In X’s post, Brown said Chen learned of the decision on Friday and must leave the country immediately.
“One of the best AI researchers I’ve worked with is deeply concerned […] I was denied a US green card,” Brown wrote. When we carry such talents, we put American AI leadership at risk. ”
Another Openai employee, Dylan Hunn, said in a post that Chen is “important” for GPT-4.5, one of Openai’s flagship AI models.
Green cards can be rejected for all kinds of reasons, and decisions do not cost Chen’s work. In a follow-up post, Brown said that Chen is planning to work remotely from Airbnb in Vancouver. [the] If the confusion goes well, it will be sorted out. “However, it is the latest example of foreign talent facing high barriers to living, working and studying in the United States under the Trump administration.
Openai did not immediately respond to requests for comment. However, in a post in July 2023 in X, CEO Sam Altman called for changes to make it easier for “high-skilled” immigrants to move to the US and work
Over the past few months, more than 1,700 international students in the US have challenged visa status as part of an active crackdown, including AI researchers who have lived in the country for years. The government accussed some of these students of supporting Palestinian extremist groups and engaging in “anti-Semitic” activities, while others target minor legal violations, such as speeding and other traffic violations.
On Friday, the administration suddenly reverted to cancel student visas. However, the grace period may be temporary. The government says it is working on a “new system” to review and close visas for international students.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has reportedly been skeptical of many green card applicants, halting the processing of legal permanent residence requests submitted by immigrants and granting them refugees or asylum. It also takes a hard-pressed approach to green card holders, which are perceived as a threat to “national security,” detaining and threatening several with deportation.
AI labs like Openai rely heavily on foreign research talent. According to Shaun Ralston, an independent contractor who provides support to OpenAI API customers, Openai submitted more than 80 applications for H-1B visas last year alone, sponsoring more than 100 visas since 2022.
The US has just denied immigration to one of the leading researchers behind Openai’s GPT-4.5. 🤦🏽♂️ @DavidSacks https://t.co/rxd3vazj2p
– Ali Partovi (@Apartovi) April 25, 2025
The H-1B visa, preferred by the tech industry, allows American companies to temporarily employ foreign workers in “professionals” that require at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent. Recently, immigration officers have begun issuing “requests for evidence” for immigration petitions based on H-1B and other employment, and if they could lead to an increase in applications that have been denied by some experts in search of home addresses and biometrics.
Immigration has played a major role in contributing to the growth of the US AI industry.
According to a survey by the Georgetown Security and Emerging Technology Center, 66% of the 50 “most promising” US-based AI startups on Forbes’ 2019 AI 50 list had immigrant founders. A 2023 analysis by the US Policy Foundation found that 70% of full-time graduate students in AI-related fields are international students.
Ashish Vaswani, who moved to the US to study computer science in the early 2000s, is one of the co-creators of Transformer, an inventive AI model architecture that supports chatbots like ChatGpt. Wojciech Zaremba, one of Openai’s co-founders, received his PhD in AI from NYU on a student visa.
U.S. immigration policies, cuts in grant funding, and hostility towards certain science have led many researchers to consider moving abroad. In response to a natural poll of over 1,600 scientists, 75% say they are considering taking jobs abroad.
Updated 12:22pm Pacific: Added a memo indicating that the Trump administration temporarily suspends cancellation of international student visas when it works to implement a “new system.” Also, the title of Ralston has been revised.
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