Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has doubled down on his support for the immigration of high-skilled workers to the US even as he faces backlash from many Donald Trump supporters over the contentious topic. In his latest post on X, Musk reminded Americans that Nikola Tesla, considered one of the greatest engineers of all time, was an immigrant.

"We named Tesla after Nikola Tesla, one of the greatest engineers ever. He was a penniless immigrant whose inventions led to American dominance in electricity generation and usage," Musk wrote on X while sharing an AI-generated image of Tesla.

We named @Tesla after Nikola Tesla, one of the greatest engineers ever.

He was a penniless immigrant whose inventions led to American dominance in electricity generation and usage. pic.twitter.com/1K1IdSUjM0

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 27, 2024

It should be noted that Musk was not involved in naming the EV maker founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in 2003. Musk joined Tesla Motors only in 2004. The current CEO of Tesla got to call himself a co-founder as part of the settlement of a lawsuit between him, Eberhard, and Tarpenning.

Musk further shared a Gork AI-generated response on how Nikola Tesla's inventions changed the world.

https://t.co/MfKkO9UIB1

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 27, 2024

South African-born Musk has been in the eye of the storm after endorsing a controversial social media post suggesting Americans were too “retarded” to be hired for skilled jobs.

Musk waded into the debate after supporting Indian-origin Sriram Krishnan, who was picked by Trump as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy.

Musk defended the tech industry's need to bring in foreign workers on H1B visas, saying that there was a shortage of excellent engineering talent in the US.

"There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent. It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley," Musk wrote on X.

There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent. It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 25, 2024

Musk also got the support of Vivek Ramaswamy, who was born in the US to Indian-origin parents.

"The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit," he wrote on X.

The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if…

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 26, 2024

The online debate has since grown into racial attacks on India-origin top executives in the US.

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