Musk Calls Indian Talent Major Asset To The US, Defends H-1B Visa Programme

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has described the United States as an “immense beneficiary” of skilled Indian talent, expressing strong backing for the H-1B visa programme and warning that shutting it down would “actually be very bad” for the country. His remarks came during a discussion with investor and entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath on the podcast People by WTF, released on Sunday.

Musk noted that the contributions of Indian professionals have played a significant role in strengthening the US. “Yes, I think America has benefited immensely from talented Indians who have come to America... America has been an immense beneficiary of talent from India,” he said.

Commenting on the H-1B system, he acknowledged that certain loopholes have been exploited. “It would be accurate to say that... some of the outsourcing companies have gamed the system on the H-1B front. And we need to stop the gaming of the system,” he said. However, he rejected the idea of scrapping the programme altogether. “I'm certainly not in the school of thought that we should shut down the H-1B programme. That's where some on the right are. I think they don't realise that that would actually be very bad.”

His comments come amid a major US crackdown on H-1B visa misuse, a programme heavily used by American tech companies to hire skilled workers from abroad. Indian professionals remain among the largest group of H-1B recipients. In September, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation titled Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, presented as an early step in reforming the visa system. It included a one-time USD 100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, a measure expected to significantly affect Indian applicants.

When asked whether the US had grown more anti-immigration, Musk said opinions varied widely and that there was no unified stance. He criticised the Biden administration’s border approach, claiming that “it was basically a total free-for-all, with like no border controls, which, you know, unless you've got border controls, you're not a country.” He argued that “massive” illegal immigration under Biden created a negative selection effect and said financial incentives encouraged people to enter the US unlawfully. “If there's a massive financial incentive to come to the US illegally and get all these government benefits, then you necessarily create a diffusion gradient for people to come to the US just as an incentive structure. I think that obviously made no sense,” he said.

Musk said the political left tended to support open borders regardless of who was entering, including “if the person coming in is a criminal,” while the political right believed that foreign skilled workers were taking American jobs. “I don't know how real that is,” he said. “My direct observation is that there's always a scarcity of talented people. So from my standpoint, I'm like, we have a lot of difficulty finding enough talented people to get these difficult tasks done, and so more talented people would be good.”

He added that some companies focus on hiring cheaper labour from overseas to reduce costs, saying, “If they can employ someone for a fraction of the cost of an American citizen, then I guess these other companies would hire people just to save costs.” He stressed that his own companies operate differently. “We pay way above average, so... that's not my experience, but that's what a lot of people do complain about.”

When asked for his advice to young Indian entrepreneurs, Musk said he admires “anyone who wants to build.” He encouraged them to focus on being contributors to society. “Aim to make more than you take, be a net contributor to society... If you want to create something valuable... pursue providing useful products and services... then money will come as a natural consequence.” He ended with a simple question he believes entrepreneurs should ask themselves: “Are you a value creator? That's what really matters.”

With PTI inputs