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Newly announced changes to the H-1B visa program sparked confusion and chaos in Silicon Valley over the weekend, but two of tech’s most prominent leaders seem optimistic.
CNBC interviewed Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Monday about changes to the H-1B program, days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order adding a $100,000 fee to the visa application.
“We want all the brightest minds to come to the United States. Remember immigration is the foundation of the American dream, and we represent the American dream,” Huang said. “And so I think immigration is really important to our company and is really important to our nation’s future, and I’m glad to see President Trump making the moves he’s making.”
Nvidia is one of the largest employers of H-1B visa holders in the United States. The company had 1,519 H-1B filings, out of 36,000 employees worldwide at the end of fiscal year 2025, a Business Insider analysis found in March.
Altman also chimed in on the topic, adding, “We need to get the smartest people in the country, and streamlining that process and also sort of aligning financial incentives seems good to me.”
Huang and Altman appeared together to announce a $100 billion investment Nvidia is making in OpenAI.
A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment. OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.
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The H-1B executive order sparked uncertainty on Friday, with companies like Amazon and Microsoft telling their employees on the visa not to leave the United States or, if they were already out of the country, to quickly return.
The White House on Saturday said the new six-figure H-1B application fee would only apply to new applicants, rather than workers who had already received the visa.
White House officials have said the fee will help ensure the visa is used to bring in highly skilled workers and not for jobs that could otherwise go to American workers.
Big Tech firms, including Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Google parent Alphabet, and Apple, collectively employ thousands of workers on H-1B visas.
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