By Thibault Spirlet
Publication Date: 2026-10-16 10:46:00
If America wants to win the AI race, sending the world’s brightest engineers packing might not be a winning strategy.
That’s the warning from Microsoft President Brad Smith, who said the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown risks driving the next generation of AI talent away from the United States.
“I think we should all be worried about sending intentionally or inadvertently or otherwise, signals that send the most talented next wave of AI software engineers to other countries rather than the United States,” Smith said in an episode of Politico’s “The Decoded Podcast” that aired on Thursday.
His comments come after the Trump administration announced last week that it was suspending Microsoft, Adobe, and several other technology companies from a federal program that sponsors foreign workers for permanent residency.
Vice President JD Vance accused Microsoft of abusing the Permanent Labor Certification, or PERM, program by laying off…
