Elon Musk combats anti-immigration sentiment in posts decrying ‘dire shortage’ of tech talent

Billionaire businessman and recently appointed government cost-cutter Elon Musk called for increased immigration of high-skilled foreign workers to the U.S. in several social media posts combating immigration restrictionists. 

In a post on X, Musk decried a “permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent” in America, calling it the “fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.” Mario Nawfal, a businessman and influencer on X, quoted Musk’s post and said the U.S. semiconductor industry alone needs more than 160,000 engineers by 2032, citing McKinsey & Company. 

“No, we need more like double that number yesterday!” Musk replied. “The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low.” 

Musk then drew an analogy between the U.S. economy and a pro sports team. “If you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be,” he wrote.

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His argument provoked backlash from immigration restrictionists, who replied that tech companies should look to the 330 million people in America for top talent instead of calling for more foreign workers to immigrate to the United States. 

“Your understanding of the situation is upside-down and backwards,” Musk said in response to a user who demanded to know why he would deny job opportunities to Americans. 

“OF COURSE my companies and I would prefer to hire Americans and we DO, as that is MUCH easier than going through the incredibly painful and slow work visa process. 

“HOWEVER, there is a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America,” Musk explained. 

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“If you force the world’s best talent to play for the other side, America will LOSE. End of story,” Musk said.

His comments come as some immigration hardliners have voiced opposition to President-elect Trump’s appointment of Indian-American venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan to an advisory position for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the incoming administration. Krishnan had previously urged Musk, who is close to Trump and who will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to persuade the president to remove caps on green cards for high-skilled workers born in foreign countries.  

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“Anything to remove country caps for green cards / unlock skilled immigration would be huge,” Krishnan wrote on X. In another post, Krishnan added, “simple logic – we need the best, regardless of where they happen to be born (another bizarre quirk – the country cap is where you were born, not even citizenship).”

David Sacks, who Trump tapped for White House AI and cryptocurrency czar, defended Krishnan’s view in an X post this week. 

“Sriram still supports skills-based criteria for receiving a green card, not making the program unlimited. In fact, he wants to make the program entirely merit-based,” Sacks wrote in part of his post.

“Makes sense,” Musk replied.

FOX Business’ Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.