As China entered the artificial intelligence field with its DeepSeek R1 AI, which surpassed US-developed AI chatbots like ChatGPT, the US began to focus on the H-1B visa program, which tech companies use to hire foreign workers. There is now a debate about whether the US missed out by not valuing its own talent, while China used its home-grown workforce to create a more affordable large language model (LLM) infrastructure.

The H-1B program has faced significant opposition from the MAGA movement, which has gained strength with Donald Trump's return to the White House. Trump focused on promoting the hiring of Americans and tightening immigration rules during his campaign. As a result, many people now believe that Indians in the US on H-1B visas should return to their home country instead of staying. Under George H. Bush, the US passed the Immigration Act in 1990 to address the impending labour shortage issue. In order to "encourage the immigration of exceptionally talented people, such as scientists, engineers, and educators," it established the H-1B visa.

"The intent of the H-1B provisions is to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the US workforce," states the US Department of Labour. The issue of a talent shortage was addressed by H-1B visa holders, but this sparked a debate about "foreigners taking American jobs." When DeepSeek topped the charts on the Apple App Store and made the news, Americans began discussing why the US needed to focus on its own "home-grown talent pool." There are a few problems with this argument. Let's first look at what these arguments actually say. An X user wrote, "DeepSeek increases my conviction that America doesn't need H1B Indians to succeed. China is NOT using Indian indentured servants to beat us in the AI race. Using H1Bs exposes American companies to having their trade secrets stolen too." "They are not “Indian Americans.” They are Indians. They need to go home. To India," shared Charles Haywood on X. 

However, another user felt that it was too late for tech companies to focus on nationalism, especially after China's DeepSeek R1 outperformed them. They wrote, "Big Tech expects a nationalist sentiment for the AI race against China. Funny because these companies spent the last decade trying to destroy everyone with nationalist views, they propped up the money-grubbing left. Now they are shocked."H-1B visa holders were referred to by another as "cheap foreign labour" rather than "smart and talented American men." They said, "Scam Altman and H1B Valley choose cheap foreign labour over smart, talented White American men. They paid the price for their grift—and harmed our country—with China’s release of DeepSeek. DeepSeek is what happens when a nation invests in and believes in its own people." 

Some people have jokingly said that the Chinese have finally taken over ChatGPT's job. These arguments suggest that Indian workers are being hired because they are cheaper, even though their skills might be lower. They also argue that if American workers were hired, China wouldn't be able to outperform Americans. This doesn't consider China's technological and research expertise. Chinese nationals are the second most hired foreign workers on H-1B visas in the US, after Indians.

Indians make up about three-quarters of H-1B visa applications, while Chinese nationals account for around one-eighth, according to a report by The New York Times. It also doesn't take into account the focus on technological education in India, which many Indians have pointed out on social media. "The real answer is because they need lots of smart people from a specific educational background and that requires looking around the world. India pushes technology on their people and schools teach English. India has the largest English-speaking workforce in the world," wrote an Indian working in the US on Reddit.

In 2019, about 60% of people on work visas were paid less than the local median wage for their jobs, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The H-1B program has allowed American companies to hire skilled workers at a lower cost, helping them stay competitive. Many people pointed out that while Indian workers were paid lower salaries, they had the same level of education, which led some foreign employers to exploit this for profit. "They're cheaper but similarly educated, so they fulfil the same role just fine for a fraction of the price," wrote an Indian working in the US on Reddit. "Our education has subsided, and we barely pay anything for college as compared to the US, so we are willing to start working for less. It's become a thing since the dot com boom for Indians to chase the American (IT) dream, since they realised that it was their ticket out of a drab financial situation back home," he added. 

A person also mentioned how the competitive education system in India pushes many Indians to excel in their fields when they move to the US. They pointed out that Indians are motivated by the opportunities available, not just by passion. "Indian here. We have the second-largest population in the world. Poor economic conditions cause a rat race to get educated and earn as much as possible, irrespective of what your passion is," they shared. Many economists believe that immigrant workers actually help create new job opportunities for workers born in the US.

"The economic contributions of H-1B workers in particular may increase the employment opportunities available to native-born workers in the United States," says the American Immigration Council. Thousands of skilled workers from around the world, including many Indians, have played a significant role in the success of American tech companies.

Leaders like Sundar Pichai of Google, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Arvind Krishna of IBM, and Sanjay Mehrotra of Micron Technology are just a few examples. Indians have been key in shaping Silicon Valley into the tech hub it is today. In the 80s and 90s, many of the best graduates from India's top engineering schools, the IITs, moved to the US. So, blaming the H-1B visa program because China has succeeded in developing DeepSeek AI is short-sighted and misses the bigger picture.