EP rears Lrareats | the mane | fi analytics SP SOGRACESS. MERE | SPECIAL AEONTS | GUPHES OKTABASE soun a The US. Needs a Million Talents Program to Retain Technology Leadership Immigration is the United States’ secret sauuce—including in its competition with China. ey atan ton ares oon ate Hae ene So 2 Ee, ture CED an cine rs ite ‘What isthe single most significant step the United States ean take to sustain the technological predominance it has enjoyed since World War 1? The answer should be ‘obvious: to actively recruit the most talented minds in the world and welcome them into society whete they have the opportunity to realize their dreams. From physicist Abert, Einstein and the other European scientists who helped the United States win World War ‘and fand on the moon tothe founders of Intel, Google, eBay, Uber, and the many technology companies that have powered economic growth, start and ambitious {mmigrants have been the country's secret sauce, ‘To sustain the United States’ technology leadership in the face of China's formidable ‘economic and military challenge, US. President Joe Biden should launch an urgent drive tosecruit and setain 1 million tech superstars from around the world by the end of his first term inoffice. 1s notjusta matter of enticing new immigrants but of retaining bright minds alread the country. In 2009, a Turkish graduate of the Califorta Institute of Technology andthe ‘Massachuserts insivute of Tecnology, Erdal Arikan, published « paper that salved a fundamental problem in information theory, allowing for much faster and more accurate data transfers. Unabletoget an academic appointment or funding to work on this seemingly esoteric problem in the United States, he returned to his home county. Asa foreign citizen, he would have had to find a U.S. employer interested in his project tobe ableto stay, Backin Turkey, Arikan turned to China. t turned out that Arikan’ insight was the beakthyough needed to leap from 4G telecomnanications networks to mich faster SG mobile internet services, Four yeats later, China's national telecommunications ‘hampton, Huawei, was using Arikan’s discovery to invent some ofthe frst 5G technologies, Today, Havel holds over two-thitds of the patents selated to Asikan's solution—10 times more than its nearest competitor. And while Huawei has produced ne-thisd of the SG infrastructute now operating around the world, the United states does noc have asingle major company competing in this race. Had the United States ‘been ableto retain Arikan—simply by allowing him to stay in the country instead of ‘making his visa contingent on immediately finding a sponsor for his workthis history might well have been different. Immigration Reform Needs a New Strategy ‘Buea nthe budget bs he dis o£ 20 jens ofatempeed ora, Here's How the United States Can Keep Its Technological Edge ‘Washington needs todo moreto forte and pete thecountystnnoration Ea SiAON GOVERNMENT | We Pay Sain at Simllar stories are fartoo common, The founders of Chinas Ieading companies in semiconductors, smaxtphones, and app-based deiveries—the Semiconductor ‘Manufacturing tntemnational Cosporation,Xlaomi, and Meltuan—were all educated at US. universities As weal know, today’s globalized world allows talented individuals to vote with thelr feet and pursue their ambitions wherever they choose, With apoplation four times larger than the United States, China has a much bigger poo! of home-grown talent, But {na world whete English has become the intemnational language and asa country that takes pride in being a nation of immigrants the United States has the great advantage of being able attract the world's most talented technical minds. ‘To leverage the United States’ greatest advantage, Biden should immediately announce a cominitinent to recruit 1 million ofthe world's most technically talented individuals by the end of his frst term in January 2028.o this end, the US. Congress should streamline the country’s immigration rules and establish programs to rectuit and retain established tech supesstars and the world's best students zeseatching advanced technologies. Aud if ‘Congress will not at, then Bicen should use is ample executive authority to create a ‘million talents progsam and promote the United States’ leadership in the technology of the future, CIA director William Burns has identified the technology raceas the “main atena for competition and rivalry” with China, So has Chinese leader XiJinping, ‘who sald last year that “technological innovation has become the main battleground of the global playing ied, and competition for tech dominance will grow unprecedented ‘exce” Whoover wins the race for tec talent will develop breakthrough technologies that ill deliver decisive economic and mlitary advantages. ‘ADecember 2021 report fiom Harvard Kennetly School's Belfer Genter on the “Great ‘Tech Rivalry" (which one of us co-authored) nds that inthe technology Olympics, CChina—which wasso far behind at the beginning ofthe millennium that the United ‘tates could not find iin fs rearview mirrors sped ahead in many atonas, including green technology, 6G telecommunication, facial recognition, voice recognition, and fintech. The United States still has significant advantages in semiconductor design, biocechnology, aerospace technology, and quantum sensing. Cchina has a significant eg in its ectucation pipeline, producing four times more bachelor’s studonts and two times move graduate and Ph.D. students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) than the United States each yeat. By contrast, asthe US. National Security Conunission on Artificial intelligence reported, the number of US-born students participating in artifical intelligence (AD) doctoral programs has not increased since 1990. As patt ofits effortto close the gap with China, tHe United tates should double sponding on STEM education and employment programs at home to support Americans who have the ability to become next-generation fnvontors and entreprenets, CChina’s great weakness sits spectacular inability to attract talent from other counties. While the United States can recruit from all 79 billion people on Earth, China has essentially limited itself tots own population of billion people, China waturalizes fewer than 100 citizens each year, while the United States naturalizes nearly Lunilion people anrutally. Rarvfers to China competing in this arena include an insular culture, engrained habits of being unwelcoming to foreigners, anda dffcultto-learn language spoken by few people outside of China, Although the Chinese government recognizes that ithas sesfous talent shortages—for example, it has.47 million fewer algorithy engineers and 300,000 fewer semiconduictorspecialists than the market demands—it thas boon unable to overcome the obstacles to recruiting people who ate not Chinese. ‘Since 2000, half ofall U.S. unfcorns—start-ups valued at $1 billion or more—have been founded or co-founded by immigrants. The flow of talent is essentially a one-way street: "The United States has 15 times as many inumigrant inventorsas there ae American {inventors living abroad, Although Britain, Canada, and Germany are by no mean as {ngulas as China, they all have mote inventors emigrating than settling in thelr counties. It's time for the United States to poach with purpose. To start, ‘Washington should grant an additional 250,000 green cards each yeat. The curvent backlog of green carcls—which entitle thelr holders to permanent residency and sunsestiited works well over 1 milion for high-skilled foamigrants and is projected to grow to nearly 2.6 million by 2020. Right now, the US. govemment is hopelessly behind, approving two applications for every green card it actually issues. The United States also requires that no more than 7 percent ofemployment- and family-based green catds be {sued to citizens from any single county, dlsadvantaging scientists and engineers ftom India and China, Congtoss should eliminate thiscap and cteate new green card categories for experts in frontier technologies. Another factor holding the United States back sit failure to digitize te immigration, system, making t one ofthe few developed countries that relies almost entirely on paper foums in ts immigration procedures. The green catd process, which takes an average of sixyeats, includes lengthy applications for labor certification, employment authorization, and permanent residency. More than 300.000 green cars have been lost ‘due to bureaucratic ertor alone, Biden has the authority to order the US. Department of Homeland Security to recoup these green cards, and he should exercise it [Noxt, the United States should seerit more genfuses, Granting 100,000 additional visas each year to extraordinary tech talents would goa Jong way toward strengthening the USS. technology workforce, Admissions criteria for employment-based (EB) visas—such, aSEBA, FB2, and FB-3 visas—seflect history, not an urgent purpose. US. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) should adjust its criteria for these visas so that technology researchers and entrepreness qualify based on thels uniquely important and hard-to-obtain expertise, Right now, only physical therapists and murses are ableto bbypace a yeatslong recruitment process due to labor shortages in those elds, Adding AL professionals and semiconductor engineets to this lst would jump-start te careers of thousands of future entrepreneurs. ‘Tohis credit, Biden has made a good start on this agenda. In January; he used an executive action to broaden the scientific fields that can qualify for an 0-1 visa for extraordinary talents, But there fstill much more tobe done. He can, for example, divect the Labor Department and other agencies to make the recruitment of STEM talent top priority to outcompete China, Regiettably, the White House has not rolled back the Trump administration's rules almed at slashing legal immigration tothe United States. Asa result the standard for \whar qualifies as. “specialized job" for work visa purposes is extremely restsietiv, with the government routinely denying visa applications for graduates in computer science ‘nthe grounds thar they do not possess tnique knowledge. This prevents companies rom transferring their overseas workers to the United States using + inttacompany ‘wanefer visas or iting foreign talont with £18 work visas, The Biden administeation should adopt new regulations that recognize that tech jobs are highly specialized and key tothe country’s national security. “The United states can also boost retention of tech talent by granting immediate ppetinanent residency to every foreign-born doctoral graduate in the STEM subjects, The smajotty of recent graduates ftom AI Ph.D. programs in the United States who left the country have ited the cumbersome immigration process as acritcal factor in theit cision to leave. Congress should also increase the capacity of immigration bureaucracy bby doubling the budget of the USCIS and increasing funding for other federal agencies, such asthe State Department, that play a significant role in the visa approval process “The USCIS has suffered significant budget shortfalls, resulting in 2021 plea to Congress for billion-dollar bailout Although the US. government played a key role in attsacting and welcoming scientists like Einstein in the years preceding World Was Il and others who contributed to US. dlofense during the Cold Wir, in recent decades, it has left thisjob to private companies and universities, Advanced technology companies—including Amazon, Apple, Google, ‘Meta, Microsoft and many others—are now the diivers in recruiting superstars. nthe AT ace, itis estimated that half ofthe top 100 recognized geniuses advancing the frontier already work for top technology companies in the United States. Google's acquisition of DeepMind, the company tha built the fist AI machine capable of beating the world champion in Go, isa case in point. To become recognized as pillars ofa million talents program, major US. technology companies should be challenged to double their recruitment of foreign talent over the next two years with the promise of direct support from the federal government, Inthe past decade, when members of Congress have thought of US. tech champions, they most often focus on their transmission of disinformation or violations of privacy. Although these ate important isewes that deserve attention, they should be considered in context, Cate must be taken to find ways to address these concetns without hindering large companies! roles as talent magnets Amesica's greatness has been powered not only by homegrown talent but by successive generations of immigrants. People from every patt ofthe Earth have left thelr native countries 0 join Team USA. A milion talents program could sustain this source of strength for what wil, n the decades ahead, be the fiercest technology rivalry the world has ever seen . ferment at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he ham Allison isa professor of ‘was the founding dean. He isa former US, assistant defense secretary and the author of Trap? Twitter: @¢¢rahamTAlison Bric Schumidt isa formes CEO and executive chairman of Google, a former executive ‘can America and China Escape Thucydides's chairman of Alphabet, and co-author—with Henry Kissinger and Daniel Huttentocher of The Age of Al: And Ou Futur Join the Conversation ‘Commenting on this and other recent articles is just one benefit ofa Foreign Policy subscription. Already a subscriber? Log In. View Comments » Perspective-changing analysis ‘Continue reading your antile with an FP membership ‘EADY SUBSCRIBE? 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