{"id":51459,"date":"2025-04-26T06:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T06:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/51459\/"},"modified":"2025-04-26T06:41:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T06:41:09","slug":"an-openai-researcher-who-worked-on-gpt-4-5-had-their-green-card-denied","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/51459\/","title":{"rendered":"An OpenAI researcher who worked on GPT-4.5 had their green card denied"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kai Chen, a Canadian AI researcher working at OpenAI who\u2019s lived in the U.S. for 12 years, was denied a green card, according to Noam Brown, a leading research scientist at the company. In a post on X<\/a>, Brown said that Chen learned of the decision Friday and must soon leave the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s deeply concerning that one of the best AI researchers I\u2019ve worked with [\u2026] was denied a U.S. green card,\u201d wrote Brown. \u201cA Canadian who\u2019s lived and contributed here for 12 years now has to leave. We\u2019re risking America\u2019s AI leadership when we turn away talent like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another OpenAI employee, Dylan Hunn, said in a post<\/a> that Chen was \u201ccrucial\u201d for GPT-4.5<\/a>, one of OpenAI\u2019s flagship AI models.<\/p>\n

Green cards can be denied for all sorts of reasons<\/a>, and the decision won\u2019t cost Chen her job. In a follow-up post<\/a>, Brown said that Chen plans to work remotely from an Airbnb in Vancouver \u201cuntil [the] mess hopefully gets sorted out.\u201d But it\u2019s the latest example of foreign talent facing high barriers to living, working, and studying in the U.S. under the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

OpenAI didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment. However, in a\u00a0post on X in July 2023<\/a>, CEO Sam Altman called for changes to make it easier for \u201chigh-skill\u201d immigrants to move to and work in the U.S.<\/p>\n

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one of the easiest policy wins i can imagine for the US is to reform high-skill immigration.<\/p>\n

the fact that many of the most talented people in the world want to be here is a hard-won gift; embracing them is the key to keeping it that way.<\/p>\n

hard to get this back if we lose it.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Sam Altman (@sama) July 2, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In a statement emailed after this story was published, an OpenAI spokesperson said: \u201cThis application was filed some time prior to our employee joining OpenAI and we were not involved in the case. However, our initial assessment, based on the information provided to us, shows there may have been some paperwork issues in the filing. We\u2019re continuing to work closely with our employee on their situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the past few months,\u00a0more than 1,700 international students in the U.S.<\/a>, including AI researchers who\u2019ve lived in the country for a number of years,<\/a> have had their visa statuses challenged as part of an aggressive crackdown. While the government\u00a0has accused some<\/a>\u00a0of these students of supporting Palestinian militant groups or engaging in \u201cantisemitic\u201d activities, others have been targeted for\u00a0minor legal infractions<\/a>, like speeding tickets or other traffic violations.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the administration abruptly walked back its cancellation of student visas. But the reprieve may be only temporary. The government says it\u2019s working on a \u201cnew system<\/a>\u201d for reviewing and terminating visas for international students.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has turned a skeptical eye toward many green card applicants, reportedly suspending processing<\/a> of requests for legal permanent residency submitted by immigrants granted refugee or asylum status. It has also taken a hardline approach to green card holders it perceives as \u201cnational security\u201d threats, detaining and threatening several with deportation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

AI labs like OpenAI rely heavily on foreign research talent. According to Shaun Ralston<\/a>, an independent contractor providing support for OpenAI\u2019s API customers, OpenAI filed more than 80 applications for H-1B visas last year alone and has sponsored well over 100 visas since 2022.<\/p>\n

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The U.S. just denied immigration to one of the principal researchers behind OpenAI\u2019s GPT-4.5. \ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2642\ufe0f @DavidSacks<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/rXd3vaZj2P<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ali Partovi (@apartovi) April 25, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

H-1B visas, favored by the tech industry, allow U.S. companies to temporarily employ foreign workers in \u201cspecialty occupations\u201d that require at least a bachelor\u2019s degree or the equivalent. Recently<\/a>, immigration officials have begun issuing \u201crequests for evidence\u201d for H-1Bs and other employment-based immigration petitions, asking for home addresses and biometrics, a change some experts worry may lead to an uptick in denied applications.<\/p>\n

Immigrants have played a major role in contributing to the growth of the U.S. AI industry.<\/p>\n

According<\/a> to a study from Georgetown\u2019s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, 66% of the 50 \u201cmost promising\u201d U.S.-based AI startups on Forbes\u2019 2019 \u201cAI 50\u201d list had an immigrant founder. A 2023 analysis<\/a> by the National Foundation for American Policy found that 70% of full-time graduate students in fields related to AI are international students.<\/p>\n

Ashish Vaswani, who moved to the U.S. to study computer science in the early 2000s, is one of the co-creators of the transformer, the seminal AI model architecture that underpins chatbots like ChatGPT. One of the co-founders of OpenAI, Wojciech Zaremba, earned his doctorate in AI from NYU on a student visa.<\/p>\n

The U.S.\u2019s immigration policies, cutbacks in grant funding, and hostility to certain sciences have many researchers contemplating moving out of the country. Responding to a Nature<\/a> poll of over 1,600 scientists, 75% said that they were considering leaving for jobs abroad.<\/p>\n

Updated 5:08 p.m. Pacific: Added a statement from an OpenAI spokesperson.<\/p>\n