Trump H-1B Fees Pose Threats to AI Startups’ Access to Talent

The Trump administration’s new steep fees on high-skilled foreign workers threaten to hamstring American startups competing in the artificial intelligence talent war.

Small tech companies are likely to be disadvantaged by the policy—which requires a $100,000 one-time payment for most new H-1B visa applications—because they can less easily absorb extra costs than bigger competitors like Amazon, Meta Platforms Inc., and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, according to industry officials and lobbyists in Washington. Startups could struggle to access specialized labor as a result of the new fees, officials said.

Startups “may be even more dependent on H-1B visa holders, you ...