Without immigration reform and higher education, the US risks losing the race for AI talent  

The power of AI is transforming our daily lives, from facial recognition to ChatGPT, and fundamentally changing how critical U.S. industries like agriculture and manufacturing operate. This widespread use of AI has sparked congressional regulatory debate, President Biden’s Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, and an explosion of state AI regulation.  This extensive deployment of AI means nothing without a skilled, AI-ready workforce to ensure its ethical and unbiased application. Even with millions of STEM workers in America, more are needed to advance U.S. innovation in the area. Without intervention, we risk losing the race for AI talent.  Building up the talent pipeline requires a multi-faceted approach. We must make reforms to ensure that foreign-born AI talent can stay in the United States to pursue industry and academic careers. This includes both individuals trained at universities in foreign countries and those trained in the U.S.  If we fail to do either of these, the United States will almost certainly fall behind on technological innovation and global competitiveness in AI.  Reform the US immigration system to attract and retain highly skilled AI talent  The CEOs of several IT technology companies are foreign-born or foreign educated, including Google’s Sundar Pichai and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella. Several members of national commissions and boards also received their education in other countries before emigrating to the U.S. for their careers.  The impact this STEM talent can have on U.S. AI innovation cannot be understated. In 2023, 42 percent of the top 50 U.S. AI companies had…Without immigration reform and higher education, the US risks losing the race for AI talent