AI-Boom und Visakosten: Tech-Wandel zwischen Milliardeninvestitionen und Politik

In a week that underscored the accelerating transformation of the tech industry, major developments across AI infrastructure, global talent mobility, and corporate strategy revealed a landscape in flux. At the heart of the shift was OpenAI’s relentless expansion, fueled by a staggering $100 billion commitment from Nvidia — a move that signals not just investment in AI models, but in the underlying hardware and data center ecosystems that power them. This colossal backing, combined with Oracle’s $15 billion bond sale to finance new data center capacity, highlights how infrastructure is now the new battleground in the AI race. Oracle, long a cloud infrastructure player, is positioning itself as a key enabler of AI scale, particularly as TikTok’s potential U.S. operations — possibly under a new data hosting arrangement — could further cement its role in the country’s tech infrastructure. Meanwhile, health tech saw a major validation with Oura Health’s reported $875 million funding round at an $11 billion valuation. The company’s rise reflects growing investor confidence in consumer health data and AI-driven wellness platforms, especially as wearable tech becomes more integrated with predictive diagnostics and personalized medicine. On the global stage, Nvidia’s $500 million investment in UK-based self-driving startup Wayve, coupled with CEO Jensen Huang’s pledge of a billion-dollar commitment to the UK’s AI ecosystem, signals a strategic pivot toward Europe. This move not only strengthens the UK’s position as a hub for autonomous vehicle innovation but also underscores the internationalization of AI development, driven by both private capital and government incentives. Yet amid this infrastructure boom, a stark contrast emerged in U.S. immigration policy. President Trump’s proposal to raise the H-1B visa fee to $100,000 — a tenfold increase — sent shockwaves through the tech sector. The move, aimed at restricting high-skilled foreign workers, prompted major tech firms like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft to advise their employees to remain in the U.S. to avoid potential disruptions. Critics argue the policy could stifle innovation by limiting access to global talent, especially as AI development increasingly relies on international expertise. Industry insiders warn that while infrastructure investments are essential, the talent crunch could become a bottleneck. “The real bottleneck isn’t chips or data centers — it’s people,” said one Silicon Valley venture capitalist. “Raising visa fees won’t fix that; it’ll just push talent elsewhere.” The contrast between massive capital inflows into AI infrastructure and restrictive immigration policies underscores a growing tension: the U.S. is investing heavily in the future of AI, but may be undermining its ability to attract the minds that will build it. Nvidia, Oracle, and Wayve represent the hardware and platform side of the AI revolution, while OpenAI and Oura reflect the model and application layers. But without a steady pipeline of global talent, even the most advanced infrastructure risks stagnation. The coming months will test whether the U.S. can balance national policy with global innovation — or whether the next wave of AI breakthroughs will emerge elsewhere.