Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has a message for Washington: keep the door open for the world’s best engineers.
On the BG2 podcast on October 15, 2026, Huang argued that the US must keep pulling in top tech talent from abroad, immigrants included. That puts the head of one of the most closely watched companies in AI at odds with recent immigration policy.
What Huang said
Huang framed skilled immigration as a structural advantage. He argued that the lawful flow of talented people and new ideas into the country gives the US an edge that rivals struggle to copy.
“We want all the world’s great minds to come here, bring their great ideas.”
Huang has described America’s ability to attract talent as a superpower, and he tied Nvidia’s own rise directly to immigration, stating that the success of Nvidia would not have been possible without immigration.
He was not arguing for an open-door free-for-all, though. Huang has pushed for what he describes as a balanced framework, one that deters abuse of the system while still giving companies access to elite global expertise.
The policy backdrop
In September 2025, the Trump administration used an executive order to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B applications. The H-1B is the visa US employers commonly use to hire foreign workers in specialized fields like software and engineering.
The administration also layered on further restrictions aimed at specific companies.
Huang, for his part, has been a vocal supporter of continued H-1B sponsorship. The company has been among the largest H-1B sponsors in the tech industry, securing approximately 1,500 approvals in recent data. Those hires feed the AI and semiconductor work that underpins its business.
A week after a medal
Huang’s podcast remarks came just a week after he received the National Medal of Science on October 8, 2026.
The ceremony was attended by other prominent immigrants in tech, including Elon Musk, Satya Nadella and Sergey Brin.
Why the tech industry is watching
Huang’s position tries to occupy the middle ground on H-1B policy. He accepts that misuse is a real concern worth policing, but argues that cutting off access to top talent carries its own costs.
The $100,000 fee applies to new applications, so its effects will likely build over time as companies plan future hiring rounds. If hiring abroad becomes slower or pricier, companies face a choice: absorb the fee, hire domestically where possible, or expand teams in other countries where visa rules are friendlier.
Disclosure: This article was edited by John Chen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.