‘I am employed because an Indian…’: Perplexity CBO backs Trump pick Sriram Krishnan amid backlash

India-born Sriram Krishnan, who was chosen by US President-elect Donald Trump as a senior policy advisor for Artificial Intelligence and has since received backlash over his Indian origin, has found support in Perplexity CBO Dmitry Shevelenko. 

In a post on X, Dmitry Shevelenko thanked his company's CEO, Aravind Srinivas, an Indian immigrant in the United States, for employing him and creating over 100 jobs.

“I’m an American who is gainfully employed because an Indian immigrant on a visa founded a company in the US. Thx @AravSrinivas for creating 100+ American jobs,” Dmitry Shevelenko said in a post on X.

Earlier, Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna criticised those targeting Indian-born Sriram Krishnan for his Indian origin as he emphasised that the ability of the United States to attract talent from around the world shows America's “exceptionalism”, putting it ahead of China.

Reacting to a post by an X user who wrote, “Did any of yall vote for this Indian to run America,” Ro Khanna said, “You fools criticizing @sriramk as Indian born criticize Musk as South African born or Jensen as Taiwanese born.”

The Congressman added, “It is great that talent around the world wants to come here, not to China, and that Sriram can rise to the highest levels. It's called American exceptionalism.” 

SRIRAM KRISHNAN'S APPOINTMENT AS AI ADVISOR

President-elect Donald Trump has been making nominations in recent weeks as he fills out roles in his coming administration.  Donald Trump nominated Indian-origin Sriram Krishnan as senior policy advisor for Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

His nomination was not received lightly, as several targeted him over immigration fears and his alleged political contributions to Kamala Harris.

Announcing the appointment, Donald Trump said, “Sriram Krishnan will serve as Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.”

He added, “Working closely with David Sacks, Sriram will focus on ensuring continued American leadership in AI, and help shape and coordinate A.l. policy across Government, including working with the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Sriram started his career at Microsoft as a founding member of Windows Azure.”