As the H-1B visa debate intensifies in the United States and continues to stir conversation across social media, especially within the Indian American community, many had been waiting for Tesla CEO Elon Musk to break his silence. Known for supporting skilled immigration, Musk has finally weighed in, and his message is loud and unmistakably clear.
In his remarks, Musk strongly endorsed the H-1B program, stressing the value skilled professionals, particularly from India bring to the United States. Speaking on Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath’s WTF podcast, he emphasized that “America has benefitted immensely from talented Indians,” highlighting their contribution to innovation and growth. At the same time, he acknowledged the need for reform, pointing out that “there has been some misuse of the H-1B Program.”
When Kamath observed that the trend “seems to be changing now,” Musk reinforced his earlier stance, stating, “America has been [an] immense beneficiary of talent from India.” And when asked, “why has that narrative changed of late?” he responded that “there’s different schools of thought.”
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Kamath opened the conversation by noting how the US has historically drawn “really smart people” from across the globe, a trend often described in India as “brain drain.” He highlighted the growing number of Indian-origin leaders at the helm of major global corporations.
Even addressing concerns in the US that foreign professionals might be taking away jobs from locals, Musk said, “I don’t know how real that is.” He explained, “My direct observation is that there’s always a scarcity of talented people. We have a lot of difficulty finding enough talented people to get difficult tasks done, and so more talented people would be good.” He further noted that his companies — Tesla, SpaceX, X and xAI — actively seek “the most talented people in the world.”
However, Musk also drew attention to flaws in the current system, criticising the misuse of H-1B visas. He said the programme was being “gamed” by “some outsourcing companies,” and stressed that the answer lies in fixing those loopholes rather than dismantling the entire system. The H-1B visa, which is granted through a lottery, has long faced allegations of manipulation — with some staffing and outsourcing firms accused of submitting multiple entries for the same candidate or using the visa to bring in lower-cost contract workers instead of specialists.
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“We need to stop the gaming of the system,” Musk said.
“But I’m certainly not in the school of thought that we should shut down the H-1B programme…which some on the Right are. I think they don’t realise that that would actually be very bad.”
During the podcast, Musk also touched on broader immigration issues, stressing the importance of having clearly defined border policies. He argued that enforcement has been lacked under the Biden administration, suggesting that controls were not strong enough. “It was basically a free-for-all with no real border controls,” Musk said. “Unless you have proper border checks, you’re not a country.”
“If people are offered big financial reasons to come to the US illegally and still receive government benefits, then of course many will try,” The Tesla CEO further elaborated. “It’s an incentive system, and it made no sense. You need to have border controls it’s unreasonable not to.”