Sriram Krishnan, the Indian-American tech entrepreneur appointed as Senior White House Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence, is facing significant criticism from supporters of Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda. His views on immigration, particularly his advocacy for expanding the H-1B visa program, have raised concerns among those who believe it contradicts the president-elect’s stance on protecting American jobs.
Krishnan has publicly advocated for the expansion of the H-1B visa program and the removal of country-specific caps on Green Cards. He has also called for the creation of a special visa category for startup entrepreneurs, along with allowing H-1B visa holders to start their own companies. These views have raised alarms among Trump loyalists, who argue that such measures would harm American workers and contribute to the perceived misuse of the H-1B visa program.
Many critics also worry that Krishnan’s influence may not be limited to AI and technology, but could extend into broader issues such as immigration policy and economic strategy.
In his new position, Krishnan will work alongside David O. Sacks, the former PayPal COO, as part of the team advising Trump on policy matters.
Krishnan, who is closely associated with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, was instrumental in restructuring Twitter (now X) following Musk’s acquisition of the platform in 2022. Musk now leads the Department of Government Efficiency, a group that focuses on recommendations for reducing federal spending and restructuring government operations.
Krishnan, originally from Chennai, earned his BTech in Information Technology from SRM Engineering College in Tamil Nadu before moving to the US in 2005. He has since held leadership roles at major tech companies, including X, Yahoo!, Facebook, and Snap.
Trump has appointed a number of Indian-Americans to key roles, including Jay Bhattacharya as Director of the National Institutes of Health, Vivek Ramaswamy as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Harmeet K. Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, and Kash Patel as Director of the FBI.
