Tech Needs AI Talent From China and Other Countries. But Researchers Are Caught In a Bind
America's standoff with China and anti-immigrant sentiment has unnerved some of tech's most valuable minds.
In the fast-paced AI wars, time is precious. So when Google last month said it would pay Windsurf $2.4 billion to license the prominent AI startup’s technology and hire some of its employees, the search giant hurried to add Windsurf’s researchers and engineers to its ranks. Within a day, Google had onboarded most of the Windsurf staff it had hired—but not all of them.
Some of them were left in limbo at Windsurf because their immigration visas, which allow them to work in the U.S., had to be transferred to Google, according to two former Windsurf employees.
That situation has lasted several weeks for some and is expected to endure months for others. Meanwhile, the Windsurf staffers who have already started at Google have met their new co-workers, settled into their new office, gotten to know top execs like Google co-founder Sergey Brin and started new projects.