Trump’s immigration policy is so harmful to talent that Anthropic mentioned it as a risk factor in its historic IPO

Amid all the business risks that Anthropic revealed in its S-1 filing this week , including that its technology could be nationalized or that a bad actor could use Claude to create biological weapons, one potential pitfall may have been glossed over—the idea that U.S. immigration policies could harm its ability to recruit the best talent.

This risk, disclosed by Anthropic Monday, comes as the Trump administration has tried to restrict the number of non-Americans working for companies in the U.S. Although Anthropic did not mention President Trump or the administration directly in the context of immigration policies, the risk brings renewed attention to concerns by companies that cutting back on foreign workers will make the American AI industry less competitive as it struggles for AI dominance with countries like China.

The AI company, which is preparing for a potential $2 trillion IPO as early as next month, made clear in its prospectus that good talent gives it an edge.

“Talent is one of our most important advantages, and maintaining our talent density requires retaining exceptional people and recruiting world-class talent, including researchers and engineers, who share our mission,” the company wrote.

At the same time, U.S. immigration policy could be an obstacle to recruiting the best people, it said.

“Changes to immigration policies that restrain the flow of professional and technical talent, including but not limited to U.S. immigration policies, may inhibit our ability to recruit and retain highly qualified employees. If we are unable to effectively manage the foregoing risks, our prospects, business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected,” the company wrote in its S-1. Anthropic’s notice to investors comes as President Trump has attempted to restrict U.S. employers’ access to foreign workers. In September last year, the administration introduced a $100,000 fee for certain petitions under the H-1B program, which applies to highly skilled workers in specialty occupations. A federal judge in Massachusetts vacated the policy change in June, contradicting a previous order by another judge upholding the fee hike. The Trump administration has appealed the ruling. Court orders continue to block collection of the fee.

Beyond the $100,000 fee, the administration has also ordered more scrutiny of companies laying off American workers.

When it announced the $100,000 fee last year, the administration said it was meant to “address the abuse of the program, stop the undercutting of wages, and protect our national security.”

Still, companies and trade groups have pushed back on the administration’s argument that higher visa fees will benefit American workers.