The U.S. tech industry thrives on innovation and perseverance. While homegrown talent has created empires, the industry’s competitive edge has always been shaped by one defining force: a diverse immigrant workforce.
While immigrants only make up about 14% of the U.S. population, they represent an astounding 20% of the self-employed individuals and 25% of startup founders.
Today, nearly half of Fortune 500 companies—including four of the top 12—were founded by immigrants or the second generation. These firms generate $1.4 trillion in revenue–Nvidia alone is valued at $2.2 trillion. Right now, immigrant-led startups account for 55% of U.S. unicorns.
In today’s interconnected economy, these entrepreneurs are uniquely positioned to unlock global market opportunities. By bridging cultural, linguistic, and informational gaps, they help navigate cross-border challenges.
Time and again, immigrants have overcome obstacles and propelled the American tech industry forward, even when they were not wanted.
Everyone Has Entered the Chat
Immigrants have played a transformative role in U.S. technology and entrepreneurship. Yet the nation has a long, conflicted relationship with who can cross their borders.
It wasn’t until 1965 that Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, eliminating restrictive quotas that heavily favored European countries like Ireland, Germany, and the United Kingdom. This opened the door for skilled professionals to enter Silicon Valley and the U.S. tech industry.
By 1990, migrants made up a third of Silicon Valley’s scientists and engineers, with Chinese and Indian professionals at the forefront. By the end of the decade, immigrant CEOs led 29% of Silicon Valley tech startups, up from 13% in the early 1980s.
As technology has advanced, so have immigrant contributions, shaping key industries over the decades.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the semiconductor boom was driven by figures like Andy Grove, a Hungarian refugee who founded Intel. From the 1990s through the 2000s, founders like Pierre Omidyar (eBay), Vinod Khosla (Sun Microsystems), and Google’s Sergey Brin—a Soviet refugee—helped revolutionize search algorithms.
From the 2010s onward, immigrants have led breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (Jensen Huang, NVIDIA), big data (Alex Karp, Palantir), and biotechnology (Feng Zhang, CRISPR).
Every wave of innovation showcases the unparalleled edge these tech leaders bring—rooted in resilience, shaped by global vision, and driven by an militant determination to succeed. Researchers have repeatedly stated that immigrant entrepreneurs have had an oversized impact on STEM fields and Nobel Prize breakthroughs.
The Immigrant Mindset
One thing is clear: The “immigrant mindset” is real and has greatly benefited America. Unlike native-born citizens, those who leave everything behind with no safety net see failure as unfathomable. This transforms risk into necessity, fueling innovation and resilience in a ruthless industry.
A 2020 study of 7,400 U.S. high-tech firms found startups led by immigrants outperform those founded by native-born Americans, excelling in 15 of 16 innovation metrics, including in research and development (R&D) investment.
Immigrants also drive a significant share of U.S. innovation. From 2000 to 2018, foreign founders filed 30% of patents in strategic industries despite making up only 20% of the workforce, with peaks in communications equipment (35%) and semiconductors (34%)—sectors critical to the U.S.-China tech rivalry.
In fact, data shows these entrepreneurs launch firms at 1.8 times the rate of native-born individuals. Their companies employ 1% more workers on average, according to the research paper Immigration and Entrepreneurship in the United States.
Contrary to claims of job displacement, immigrants boost employment rates. Between 2010 and 2020, immigrant-founded firms, such as Stripe, Grammarly, Moderna, Uber, and Discord, created 1.7 million high-paying jobs in fields like engineering and R&D.
“The findings suggest that immigrants act more as ‘job creators’ than ‘job takers’ and that non-U.S.-born founders play outsized roles in U.S. high-growth entrepreneurship,” the authors concluded.
Highly educated migrants continue to shape America’s workforce. Between 2010 and 2019, 47.4% of newly arrived foreign-born individuals held a bachelor’s degree or higher. This trend is especially pronounced among Indian immigrants, 85.7% of whom hold at least a bachelor’s degree.
Researchers have observed that international migration “leads to a pool of foreign-born individuals in the United States who have a greater tolerance for risk and uncertainty than the average U.S. native.”
Brain Circulation > Brain Drain
Silicon Valley—and every iteration of it—is obsessed with AI. Investors worldwide have poured billions into both private and public sectors, aiming to reimagine the digital world.
In the U.S., immigrants dominate the AI space, with 65% of top companies founded or co-founded by migrants, rising to 77% when including second-generation, according to a 2023 National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) analysis.
The future of U.S. tech competitiveness hinges on retaining international talent. The report notes that 70% of graduates in AI-related fields and 71% in computer and information sciences are international students—disciplines critical to the U.S.-China tech rivalry.
However, a growing trend of skilled immigrants returning home is reshaping the tech ecosystem. While some see this as “brain drain,” the reality is shifting toward “brain circulation,” benefiting both sending and receiving nations.
Experts overwhelmingly agree that for the U.S. to maintain its leadership in tech and AI. America’s ability to lead in AI—and future innovations—depends on attracting the world’s top talent. As history has shown, we need immigrants as much as they need us.
About the Author: Tess Danielson is a journalist and writer focusing on the intersection of technology and society.
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