Angel investor and All-In Podcast host Jason Calacanis publicly praised Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai, calling him “an amazing American” and crediting immigration policy for the tech sector’s rise.
Immigration Engines Innovation
Praising the India-born executive who has led Alphabet since 2015 in his late Saturday post on X, Calacanis wrote, “America was built for immigrants, by immigrants.”
Calacanis also cited fellow All-In Podcast co-hosts David Sacks, a South Africa-born venture capitalist who served as President Donald Trump‘s White House AI and crypto czar before stepping down in March and Chamath Palihapitiya, a Sri Lanka-born investor, alongside Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, who emigrated from South Africa.
In a separate post, Calacanis also thanked United Kingdom-born co-founder and CEO of Starcloud, Philip Johnston, for “choosing America.”
Trump Thanked, Miller Tapped For ‘Second Act’
Calacanis thanked President Trump for supporting high-skilled immigration and suggested White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, known for his hardline immigration stances, pursue reform as a “second act.”
That praise contrasts with President Trump’s record on high-skilled visas during his second term, which has generally been more restrictive. In September 2025, his administration imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions, but a federal judge struck it down in June while appeals continue.
The Department of Homeland Security also replaced the H-1B random lottery with a wage-based selection system beginning with the fiscal 2027 cycle.
What You Should Know
Alphabet employed almost 5,550 H-1B workers in 2023, according to Pew Research Center data.
Benzinga’s Take: Immigration policy remains central to Big Tech’s engineering talent pipeline and cost structure.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
