In a post on X, Brown said that Chen learned of the decision Friday and must soon leave the country.

“It’s deeply concerning that one of the best AI researchers I’ve worked with [OpenAI] was denied a U.S. green card,” Brown stated on X.

“A Canadian who’s lived and contributed here for 12 years now has to leave.”

“We’re risking America’s AI leadership when we turn away talent like this,” Brown tweeted.

Another OpenAI team member, Dylan Hunn, mentioned in a post that Chen was “essential” for GPT-4.5, one of OpenAI’s key AI models.

In a subsequent post, Brown indicated that Chen intends to work remotely from an Airbnb in Vancouver “until the situation hopefully gets resolved.”

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