Trump's Crackdown on Foreign Student Visas Could Derail Critical AI Research

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that the US plans to “aggressively revoke” the visas of Chinese students, including those working in critical fields or with ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Experts warn the move—along with the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on international students—could drain American scientific labs of top STEM talent and upend cutting edge research in areas like artificial intelligence. “If you were aiming to help China beat the US at AI, the first thing you would do is disrupt the flow of top talent from all around the world into the US,” says Helen Toner, director of strategy and foundational research grants at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology. While it has a population only about a quarter the size of China, “the US has had a huge asymmetric advantage in attracting the cream of the global crop,” she adds. Several close Trump allies, including Elon Musk, have argued that attracting the best engineer ... Read full article.