These visa holders reveal a program that can transform lives — and quickly unravel them

Good morning. Still struggling to sell that Cybertruck? The US Air Force is looking to buy two to use as target practice. Don’t worry, they need only be towable — they’re blowing them up anyway.

In today’s big story, seven current and ex-employees at Google, Meta, Amazon, and more share the opportunities and anxieties of living on the H-1B visa.

What’s on deck:

Markets: The US economy is inching toward a stagflation scenario — again.

Tech: xAI’s head lawyer is leaving the company to spend more time with his kids.

Business: Trump is calling for Intel’s CEO to resign. Crisis communications warned Intel to not stay quiet.

But first, life on the H-1B visa.

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The big story

The Big Tech Visa

The H-1B visa is a gateway to the American dream — a chance for skilled immigrants to shape the future of US technology and innovation. That opportunity also comes with risk. One layoff and the clock starts ticking: 60 days to find a new employer, or leave the country.

In any job market, that would be a daunting deadline. But in today’s climate, where layoffs have swept the tech industry, it’s a tight race against time. Some Americans can take solace in the hope that the market will rebound; for now, they’re clinging to their desks.

For H-1B holders, there’s no waiting out the storm. No margin for error. 60 days, remember?

Thanks to visa data from federal filings, we have a glimpse at what could be at stake financially: eye-popping salaries for top AI talent.

Business Insider spoke to seven current or former H-1B recipients who moved from India and found work in Big Tech.

Their stories, as told to BI, reveal a program that can transform lives — and quickly unravel them, too.

“My life feels temporary in a lot of ways,” said Surabhi Madan, a senior software engineer at Google.

She said she faces challenges that her friends don’t: “I’m anxious about making mistakes when I drive or file taxes. I don’t volunteer because I’d have to contact my immigration lawyer to check that it wouldn’t jeopardize anything.”

After six years at Twitter, Debpriya Seal was laid off and left with 60 days to find a new employer. “The market was tough. It was the last quarter of the year, when companies tend to slow hiring. I hoped I’d find a job in time, but I had to consider moving back to India. I started looking into selling my possessions on Facebook Marketplace.”

Debjit Saha, now the cofounder of a real estate startup in Buffalo, says the rules shape how he runs his own company. “As an H-1B holder, I have to be careful to only do the type of work outlined in my petition. Even though I’m the cofounder, I can’t do things outside my remit as CTO, like marketing.”

3 things in markets

1. Is Big Tech’s shopping spree saving the markets? President Trump’s latest round of tariffs have taken effect, complicating the economic landscape and raising uncertainty. At the same time, Big Tech isn’t fazed — many companies have actually increased their capex guidance for 2025. Some experts speculate that this could help offset the impact of tariffs.
2. Things are looking up for quant hedge funds. Quants suffered a weekslong summer slump, where funds run by Qube, Man Group, and Engineers Gate lost money. The last week of July was a turning point, though, with funds clawing back about 30% of losses, according to a note from Morgan Stanley to clients.
3. A “stagflation-lite” scenario is looking more likely. Investors have taken in a slew of data points that suggest the US economy is headed toward the dreaded stagflation scenario, where economic growth slows and inflation continues to rise. These are the warning signs economic forecasters have been following.

3 things in tech

1. xAI’s chief legal officer is putting family first. The top lawyer for Elon Musk’s AI company is departing, saying he doesn’t get to see his kids enough in a LinkedIn post. He had nothing but warm words for Musk, calling it the “adventure of a lifetime” to work for him.
2. GPT-5 is finally here. Sam Altman and OpenAI have been hyping up GPT-5 for a year. Now it’s live, with improved capabilities for vibe coding and more. Altman called it a “significant step” on the path to artificial general intelligence, though it still falls short of true AGI.
3. The founders are getting younger and younger. Thanks to the AI boom, the median age of startup founders accepted into Y Combinator fell to 24 from 30 in 2022. YC participants who spoke to BI left glowing reviews of their time at the accelerator, though its expectations are also rising.

3 things in business

1. “It’s potentially fatal.” President Trump called for Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign after a Republican senator raised national security concerns about Tan’s reported holdings in Chinese companies. Crisis communications experts shared how they’d advise Intel to respond, including acting swiftly and communicating on multiple fronts.
2. Palmer Luckey’s new crypto bank touts its political connections. In a fundraising memo, Erebor told would-be investors it expects regulators to approve its plans in around six months — which is faster than what it normally takes, experts told BI. The memo said Luckey’s “political connections” and the bank’s ties to regulators would “get this done.”
3. HBO Max is setting a trap for password sharers. If you’re binge-watching “Girls,” “Game of Thrones,” or “Succession,” you may want to hurry up. HBO Max signaled that password sharers’ days are numbered — as domestic growth slows, the streamer is sussing out who is a “legitimate user” to place a net for freeloaders.

In other news

• WATCH: How the US military is training a drone army 400 miles from Ukraine.
• Good news, delivery drivers: DoorDash CEO says robotaxis aren’t ready for food delivery.
• Twelve engineering and architecture jobs you can get without a bachelor’s degree, and how much they typically pay.
• Apple wants to buy startups. Here’s where Tim Cook could start looking.
• Look out for a boom in the ‘Toyota Camry of housing‘ that could make starter homes cheaper.
• We asked readers for the biggest red flags they’ve seen in job interviews. Here’s what you told us.
• Paramount’s new owner doesn’t want to answer questions about Trump. But they won’t go away.

What’s happening today

• Wendy’s reports earnings.

  Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Grace Lett, editor, in New York. Meghan Morris, bureau chief, in Singapore. Akin Oyedele, deputy editor, in New York. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York (on parental leave).

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