'We need the smartest people': Nvidia, OpenAI CEOs react to Trump's H-1B visa fee (www.cnbc.com)

The Trump administration announced a dramatic overhaul of the H‑1B program, raising the employer fee to $100,000 and requiring proof of payment before filing a petition; petitions will be restricted for 12 months until payment is made. The announcement roiled companies over the weekend and drew public responses from two leading AI executives: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he’s “glad” the administration is acting but emphasized that immigration is essential to attract “the brightest minds,” while OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said “outlining financial incentives seems good to me.” In the same CNBC interview the chiefs revealed Nvidia will invest $100 billion in OpenAI as the lab builds hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of data centers around Nvidia’s AI chips. For the AI/ML community the change is seismic: the H‑1B program supplies a large share of highly skilled engineers (71% of holders were from India and 11.7% from China last year), and a six‑figure employer fee plus upfront payment rules could raise hiring costs, slow onboarding, and push firms to offshore talent or accelerate automation. Technical implications include potential disruption to AI infrastructure projects—like the Nvidia‑OpenAI data center expansion—that depend on rapid, cross‑border talent mobility, while existing H‑1B holders abroad are reportedly exempt from the re‑entry fee. Companies will need to weigh higher near‑term labor costs against the urgency of securing specialized AI engineers.