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.
TechNet, a trade association whose members include Anthropic, Amazon, Google, and Meta, last month urged U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to withdraw a separate proposed $103,265 fee on H-1B applications.
The group argued access to skilled foreign workers helps its members recruit and retain talent and maintain U.S. competitiveness. The proposed fee would apply in addition to the $100,000 fee the Trump administration previously announced, if it survives court challenges
“TechNet’s member companies depend on a skilled workforce to develop technologies, expand U.S. operations, and create opportunities for American workers,” the letter read.
Anthropic itself has previously advocated for expanding access to skilled worker visas. In a 2023 letter to the Department of Homeland Security and USCIS, the company wrote that it had successfully used the H-1B visa program to fill some positions “requiring advanced skills.”
“Hiring exceptionally skilled artificial intelligence experts remains challenging due to the domestic shortage of qualified STEM workers and limitations of the H-1B system,” the letter read.
Hiring highly specialized employees is increasingly important for the company given how it is expanding its data center footprint as the demand for its AI products grows. The company said in its S-1 filing that it has “limited experience in managing such data center infrastructure projects at scale,” and would need to hire people with relevant experience to succeed in this area.
At the same time, Anthropic also said it uses its own technology to expand without increasing headcount proportionally.
It said it increased its revenue per employee to more than $6.6 million for the previous 12 months ending in September, a 371% increase from the $1.4 million revenue per employee for the 12 months before September 2025.