Perplexity CEO backs Trump AI czar Sriram Krishnan on US green card

Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas has backed the stance of Sriram Krishnan, Donald Trump’s pick as White House adviser on AI, on removing the country cap on green cards. The development comes as Sriram Krishnan faces flak from a section of activists over his views on immigration.

“DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) for immigration doesn’t mean more immigration or remove caps. Rather, it means let the best people in based on skill rather than trying to make sure every country is equally important,” Srinivas, who has been pursuing a green card for the past three years, said.

A green card allows a person to live and work in the United States permanently.

The Indian-origin CEO of Perplexity AI was responding to a post by David Sacks, who has been tapped by Trump to be the next White House crypto czar. Defending Krishnan, Sacks said the incoming AI policy adviser supported removing country-specific caps on green cards to address unfair wait times for applicants from high-demand countries like India.

“Right now, every country in the world gets allocated the same number of green cards, no matter how many qualified applicants it has. So, applicants from India have an 11-year wait whereas applicants from many other countries have no wait at all,” Sacks said.

The former PayPal executive and venture capitalist made the remarks after American far-right political activist Laura Loomer labelled Krishnan a “career leftist” over his views on green card policy reforms.

“Sriram still supports skills-based criteria for receiving a green card, not making the program unlimited. In fact, he wants to make the program entirely merit-based. Supporting a limited number of highly skilled immigrants is still a prevalent view on the right. Sriram is definitely not a career leftist,” Sacks tweeted.

Loomer, in her post on X, claimed that Krishnan’s views were “in direct opposition” to Trump’s “America First agenda”.

“How will we control immigration in our country and promote America First innovation when Trump appointed this guy who wants to remove all restrictions on green card caps in the United States so that foreign students (which makes up 78% of the employees in Silicon Valley) can come to the US and take jobs that should be given to American STEM students,” Loomer tweeted.