Apoorva Govind, a longtime U.S. resident, says the current mood in the country feels unlike anything she has experienced. “In my 15 yrs of living in the US, never quite felt this level of volatility in the society. Something feels off,” she wrote on X, capturing a sense of unease shared by many immigrants and longtime residents alike.
Her post sparked a fiery discussion online. One user commented, “It’s called social media, in some circles.” Govind replied with a laugh, “ahahaha. Perhaps.”
Another user connected the tension to the tech industry, writing, “yeah and it started since AI boom. I wonder how much of this snowball is due to job losses and shrinking economy.” Govind pushed back, offering a broader perspective: “I don’t think it’s the AI boom per say. I think it started with money printing in general. Malaise has been ongoing since Russia/Ukraine.”
The conversation quickly took a harsher turn, with some users targeting Indians. Comments included, “AI = Actually Indians looting America,” and, “The only type of AI taking jobs is Army of Indians (AI), both those imported into the US and those outsourced to. Our politicians are traitors for enabling this shit in the name of AI.”
READ: Tighter US visa rules reshape Indian marriages: NRIs lose their shine (
Some even attacked Govind personally. One said, “That is your intuition telling you to remigrate,” while another wrote, “In my 42 years in the US, I’ve never seen so many third world foreigners. Wonder if that’s got something to do with it?”
Other users tried to offer more nuanced views. “You’re not American so you wouldn’t get it. We want you to leave and build something great back home,” one wrote. Another added, “Most of us came here for just the better quality of life and a generally streamlined and functioning system that the American dream promised. We were legally invited, vetted for our proficiency and we contributed immensely but we were always treated differently and each one of us deeply within, knew exactly what the feeling was like. The only difference now is that the fearing majority has just become more vocal. This too shall pass.”
Some comments reflected workplace frustrations. “15 years ago I was super supportive of my Indian colleagues in the US and India. And then I watched as more and more Indians came over and then fully dismantled entire departments to hire non-Americans. I watched as my community went from single digits of Indians to over 40%. People over it.”
READ: Are Indians fit enough for the American Dream? Diabetes or asthma could block a US visa (
Beyond social media debates, Govind is a tech entrepreneur making waves in the AI advertising space. She is the founder and CEO of Bestever AI, a San Francisco-based startup that uses artificial intelligence to help brands design, test, and optimize digital advertising content more efficiently.
Before founding Bestever in 2021, she held senior engineering roles at major tech companies, including Uber, where she worked on Uber Eats, and Apple, where she was a lead software engineer. She began her career with a systems security internship at Nvidia and earned a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University.
Under her leadership, Bestever has become a leader in AI-driven advertising, creating tools that allow brands to quickly generate and refine creative content across platforms like Meta, LinkedIn, and Google Ads.