Amid furious debate among supporters of President Donald Trump over the H-1B visa for foreign workers, federal authorities are making in-person interviews mandatory for renewals in visa holders’ home countries.

Technology companies say the visas — intended for workers with specialized skills, and requiring renewal every three years — are key to maintaining competitiveness, but critics charge they are used to suppress wages and replace U.S. workers.

Currently, H-1B holders with no visa changes can drop off renewal applications at consulates in their home countries or foreign countries, or renew remotely through federal field offices in the U.S. Under the new rule, in-person interviews are required for overseas applications, and the option to renew in countries other than the applicants’ own appears to have been taken away. It was not immediately clear if an interview requirement would be imposed for renewals at field offices in the U.S.

Immigration lawyers expect the change, taking effect Sept. 2, will cause delays at overseas consulates and also in U.S. field offices.

“It was a really great process — if everything was the same there’s really no point in asking them all of those questions and having them coming in for an interview,” said Kelli Duehning, a partner in the BAL immigration law firm’s San Francisco office, who spent 17 years as a lawyer for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Alternatively, at the discretion of federal authorities, H-1B workers could renew visas at U.S. consulates in other countries not their own, including Canada and Mexico, but Duehning believes the new rule eliminates that option.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services referred questions about the new rule to the U.S. State Department. The department said visa applicants should check embassy and consulate websites for information about visa application requirements and procedures.

“An in-person interview with a consular officer overseas remains one of the most important tools for the Department of State to detect fraud, misrepresentation, and other indicators that an applicant is not qualified for the visa class sought,” the department said.

Thousands of H-1B workers, mostly Indian citizens, work at Silicon Valley technology companies. Visa holders have been reluctant to speak out on the issue, fearing it could jeopardize their status.

“We can only anticipate that the wait times at the consulates in India are going to get very, very long,” Duehning said. “If they don’t get an appointment in time, they could lose their work authorization.”

Most H-1B holders also can renew visas in the U.S., and Duehning expects the mandatory interview rule will boost the number of H-1B workers applying in this country, likely leading to delays in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field offices.

“Their field offices are already overwhelmed,” Duehning said.

Meanwhile, federal hiring freezes and the departures of federal workers in the State Department and Citizenship and Immigration Services mean reduced staffing, even as the Trump administration heightens scrutiny of H-1B applications and renewals, Duehning said. Applications for renewals made overseas, and at field offices, are drawing increased numbers of “requests for evidence” that the applications are valid, Duehning said, similar to what occurred during the first Trump administration.

“It will continue to increase the lack of efficiency and consistency that businesses need for their foreign national workforce, and of course, just continues to increase the angst of foreign workers,” Duehning said.

Controversy over the H-1B visa exploded late last year, as anti-immigrant conservatives faced off against advocates from the tech industry who are close to Trump. The president — who in the past criticized the visa and oversaw a dramatic boost in denial rates during his first term — came out in support of the H-1B.

In Silicon Valley, Google, Meta and Apple are among the top users of the visa. Last year, Google received approval for some 5,300 new and continuing H-1Bs, according to federal government data. Meta received nearly 5,000 approvals, Apple close to 4,000, Intel about 2,500 and Oracle more than 2,000. Seattle’s Amazon topped the list, with more than 11,000. All told, nearly 80,000 workers were approved last year to work in the U.S. for about 10,000 California companies.

Transcript

Transcript

Transcript

Ajinkya, welcome to CNBC TV 18. Let’s first talk about Hadil itself, because that’s something which is also very close to you, close to sports. What was it that drew you to investing in huddle and you know, like being an entrepreneur there. So huddle is basically sports tech platform. And me, I’m a completely, I’m a passionate about, yes, about cricket, but I love playing other sports as well. And I used to watch people who are looking for, you know, when used to play sports, go outdoor and play sports. That’s when Hurdle actually we met. The founders and then we started our discussions and we start, we, we thought that hurdle will be a, a right platform, a right fit for me to get into it. So that I wanted to promote sporting culture in India. We invested in 2019 and then COVID happened. Everything was shut. Everything was closed for six to eight months. But then after lockdown opened up. People wanted to go outdoor and know and play outdoor sports. That’s when Hurdle actually was trying to help people to get access to outdoor facilities, to even indoor facilities so that people could actually go out and play sports. And that’s when I thought, no, this is a great platform for me to introduce people to different sports. You know, we know pickle ball paddle has been growing really well, but the main important thing was for me to know creating a sporting culture in India and try and promote that and how has. Your journey as a cricketer shaped or you know some of your insights as an entrepreneur? See, I like to firstly, whenever, whichever business I get into it, I like to meet the founders first. No, no, try and see their passion, their vision, what they want to achieve. If I, if I feel yes, this is the right venture for me, I get into it. But if I’m, if I invest something in that my time, you know the money as well. I like to take a back seat. For me it is always about, you know, give them that freedom. I always feel that in cricket we get lot of suggestions, pressure. On the people, but if people can allow us to know give that freedom, no, we can play freely. So similar thing I apply in my entrepreneur journey. I give freedom to our founders. But wherever I feel like I should jump in, I tried to be as frank as possible with them and no Sharma opinions. Yeah. So let the leaders be. And one of you know the great leadership skill that you demonstrated was during the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. How did that? Or you know, tournament, specially when we saw like the Indian team was highly depleted at that point in time, shape you as an individual, as a leader that tournament, I thought that series was something really special. You know, for me, preparation is really important going into any series. I remember going into will talk about cricket now and going into Australia. We were in Dubai, you know, playing IPL and I got to know that I will be the captain after first Test match. You know, I thought, no, let me just study myself, no. And make some notes. I always make the notes before any serious. And I had 2-3 plans before going into Australia and that plan came together really well. No, it was always about playing with freedom. You know, Allah as a captain, allow my players to know, give that freedom, know. Open everything, I mean they can talk with me about their personal and professional life on and off the field. They can share everything with me. So it was always about that being a leader, you know, giving them that platform to express themselves. No try and motivate them and also no give them that freedom whenever we are on the field. Just I told them that go out there and back yourself back your game. Moving back to your entrepreneurial journey, Proggy IT solutions. What attracted you? To invest in proggy so my friends when they told me about proggy and know their proxies about making. Ohh helmets, smarter helmets, it is very easier and safer and also it’s connected now as I mentioned, no gadgets helmets, it’s all connected. You can talk to people wearing those helmets. It’s safer and also makes people’s job very easier. Quickie when we see people wearing those helmets when they’re working in the in the refineries mines, the safety protocols are really important and I thought these helmets provides that safety. No people can. Connect with each other. And also it has oxygen levels, It has no your BP levels. People can monitor sitting in the no closed, closed area and they can monitor your oxygen level and everything. So I thought from safety point of view, proxy was perfect for me. And that’s what my friend told me. And I thought, no, this is a great venture for me to get into it. Yeah. And apart from that, there is also an Agri tech startup that that you’re invested in. What attracted you to agriculture? Because we see like, you know. Plywood stars and cricketers typically interested in like, you know, high glam high, like, you know, consumer focused startups. So why agritech at all? See, I’ll tell you I’m, I’m into my entrepreneur journey and in business returns are really important. I have been invested in couple of the benches where returns are really high and I’m really happy for that. But agriculture is something really close to my heart. You know, I come from agriculture family. I’ve seen my grand grandparents walking into farms and how difficult it is. I thought if I can know. Contribute something to this sector, to the farmers, their lives. That will be really grateful. So that effort actually started from 2016 and 17. Hmm. I used to know, I used to help farmers from my own capacity and I thought if I can channelize that in a proper way with the organization, if they can help me. So I have tied up with MCI, they’re helping me. They’re director general Prashant Gilbane, Vikram, my close friend Vikram Sathaye and Amit Paranjape. They’ve been helping me a lot, no. Connecting or to aggregate sectors and know we are together, we are trying to help farmers directly and recently we have invested, no, I have invested in Krishak Mitra as well. But recently we have invested in Kane bought So through me, the other people who join me raising the funds which directly go to the farmers so that the farmers lives can be beneficial. So this sector is always about, it’s always about no getting an impact, creating an impact. It’s we are not looking for returns. Yes, returns are important, but it’s more of an impact. So that brings me to a very crucial question. How do you decide, you know, what do you want to invest in as an entrepreneur? As I said. For me, agriculture sector is always about making an impact, other sectors making money, as simple as that, as simple as that. No, I’m not going to lie. So are there any more impact making an impact, sectors that you’re looking forward to and making money, sectors that you’re looking forward to? My team is obviously working hard with all the sectors, all the benches, but we, we pick and choose. You know, I’ve invested in OT as well, which is again, a very healthy sector, you know, healthier way. I’ve tried oat milk in New Zealand in 2014. 15 hmm and I really liked it and this brand called OT no, they were starting this oat milk milk milk plant in India and I thought this is a perfect thing to promote it now, which has vitamins and minerals and very healthy very healthy being a sportsman, we got to be stay really healthy and fit. So I thought if I can promote this Indian local brand, why not something that you’re also passionate about is what you look forward to having said that before we go Ajinkya, I would like to ask you what. It would be your tip to like the first time founders were setting up their business. Since you speak to so many of them and you are actively investing in many of these companies, what would be your tip? I’ll tell you in cricket. That know now IPL started, everyone wants to play IPL, everyone wants to be successful, but it’s not easy at all. No, we only see the success story, but we don’t see, no people were not getting successful. The founders, I feel they know you should not think about the returns and the outcomes or you, you got to know build your venture or start up a Unicorn. There’s a you have to go step by step. I think firstly you got to be really passionate, resilient. No, that’s what I learned in cricket. And also your, your attitude towards your, towards your venture, it’s really important.

As tech giants like Apple turn their eyes towards AI-powered healthcare, Google is now building a new AI doctor in collaboration with NASA. But you might never get a chance to use the new model, unless you’re planning a trip to Mars, that is.

According to the NASA proof-of-concept slide deck, first spotted by TechCrunch, the project aims to tackle the problems of multi-year, long-distance space travel, dealing with issues like no real-time communication with Earth, no way to send medical samples back home, and the possibility of no evacuations in an emergency. For reference, Mars missions would have a lag of up to 223 minutes each way, making conventional real-time medical consultation near impossible.

The new tool, dubbed the Crew Medical Officer Digital Assistant (CMO-DA), will help provide medical advice and diagnostics completely independently of Earth. Per the slides, NASA eventually plans for the tool to incorporate things like ultrasound imaging and additional sources of biometric data in later versions.

The CMO-DA comes as part of the Artemis program, a NASA-led Moon exploration initiative, with the long-term goal of creating a permanent base on the Moon and making human missions to Mars. The tool runs on Google Cloud’s Vertex AI environment and uses open-source language models (LLMs) such as Llama 3 and Mistral-3 Small. The tool’s source code is entirely owned by NASA, according to a Google spokesperson speaking to TechCrunch.

The project’s team tested the AI diagnostics against a basket of common maladies using a panel of three doctors, including one who is also an astronaut.

The model performed broadly well, achieving a 74% accuracy rate for flank pain, an 80% accuracy rate for ear pain, and an 88% accuracy rate for ankle injury.

Still, NASA highlights several potential pitfalls the chatbot will have to work around, such as lack of trust in AI tools—where even advanced models can make basic errors—and lack of data on spaceflight-related pathophysiology, for example how partial gravity conditions can impact health.

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We’ve thoroughly reviewed the new Samsung Foldable Fold smartphone and it’s nearly flawless. Here’s our detailed review.

If you’re familiar with the foldable smartphone market, you likely know about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold. Undoubtedly, it’s a frontrunner in the “book-like” foldable phone category. Once again, Samsung has updated its classic foldable phone. This time, the emphasis is on sleekness and performance, making the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 potentially the ultimate foldable phone. Explore our review.

A Design That Rivals Conventional Smartphones

As mentioned earlier, Samsung has focused heavily on the design of its Galaxy Z Fold 7 this year. The phone is one of the thinnest in the industry, measuring just 8.9 mm when folded and 4.2 mm when unfolded. This slim profile is greatly appreciated in daily use, making the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 feel like a regular smartphone when folded.

While we are not fans of pursuing thinness in the smartphone market (the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge and the upcoming iPhone 17 Air are not particularly appealing), this is not the case with foldable phones. Previous Galaxy Z Folds and other brands like the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold tended to be quite bulky and not very comfortable to use in their folded state.

When folded, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 truly resembles a very conventional phone. Its dimensions are similar to a Galaxy S25 Ultra, with slightly rounded edges and a very comfortable grip for those who can handle large screens. Unfortunately, the only design criticism we might have is the thickness of the camera sensors, which makes it nearly impossible to use the phone on a flat surface without it constantly tilting.

Unfolding the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 really highlights its sleekness. Barely thicker than its USB port, the phone also impresses with its lightness and premium feel. The crease in the middle of the internal screen is still somewhat visible, but barely noticeable to the touch.

Two Screens of Exceptional Quality

The external screen of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 features a resolution of 2520 x 1080 (FHD+) and AMOLED quality with an adaptive refresh rate that can go up to 120 Hz. It’s also possible to lock this rate at 60 Hz to sacrifice some smoothness in favor of better battery life. The internal screen shares the same features but with a different resolution (2184 x 1968 QXGA+).

There are also two color management modes available. The vivid mode (enabled by default) enhances the colors displayed on your screen. We recommend this mode for daily use, as the natural mode tends to be a bit too dull.

It’s very enjoyable to consume content on the two screens of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 daily. However, we would have appreciated an anti-reflective treatment similar to what is found on the S24 and S25 Ultra, especially given the Z Fold’s price tag.

Regarding brightness, Samsung claims a maximum peak of 2600 nits. This is a believable claim as the Z Fold 7’s screen can be incredibly bright and excellent for visibility, even in direct sunlight.

Outstanding Performance with a Slight Drawback

Samsung has naturally equipped its most expensive smartphone with one of the best chips currently available on the market: the Snapdragon 8 Elite. This chip is also paired with 12 or 16 GB of RAM depending on your configuration to run your apps and games smoothly.

Switching between opening and closing apps on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is extremely satisfying. The foldable phone handles various software and multitasking very well, allowing up to three different apps to be displayed at the same time. Everything remains very smooth, and we encountered no freezes or slowdowns during our tests.

Unfortunately, this is not the case when it comes to the heat generated by the processor. Taking multiple photos and videos in an afternoon, we quickly feel the phone heating up. While it’s nothing alarming or that prevents us from holding the device, it’s still worth mentioning.

The same goes for launching big games like Wuthering Waves or Genshin Impact. Very quickly, the smartphone begins to heat up during our gaming sessions. The performance remains excellent with graphics maxed out, but it’s hard not to notice the heat of the smartphone.

Photography on Par with Premium Smartphones?

For its Galaxy Z Fold 7, Samsung has opted to upgrade to a main sensor of 200 MP coupled with a 10 MP telephoto lens and a 12 MP ultra-wide sensor. Overall, the results taken in good lighting conditions are very good. While the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 never quite reaches the photo performance of the S25 Ultra, it still does not disappoint. The sharpness is very accurate even in detailed shots, and the exposure is also very good. The same holds true for the ultra-wide sensor, which, although losing a bit of quality in finer details, remains quite good. By default, the smartphone photographs in 12 MP, but it is possible to manually switch to 50 and 200 MP.

In 12 MP, the Galaxy Z Fold can achieve up to a x30 zoom. The 50 and 200 MP settings, meanwhile, can reach up to x5 zoom. These maximum zooms, however, deliver average to barely usable quality. Essentially, the smartphone shows more and more loss of detail beyond x3 zoom.

At night, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 also performs well. The night mode activates automatically and does not take too long to engage when you take a shot. However, be careful not to move the smartphone too much during the shot, as blur can appear quickly.

The portrait mode also performs very well with a nice delineation around your subject. Whether it’s hair, beard bristles, or other small details, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 manages to effectively isolate elements and bring them out while applying a background blur that isn’t too pronounced.

The two selfie cameras (internal and external) each have 10 MP and also deliver very good results. Once again, an owner of an S24 or S25 Ultra will enjoy better details, but the results are still entirely usable.

Adequate Battery Life with Frustrating Charging

Samsung has chosen to include a 4400 mAh battery in its Z Fold 7. Unfortunately, it is not a silicon-carbon battery like those Honor uses in its MagicV series of foldables. Silicon-carbon has the advantage of allowing for batteries with better capacities in a smaller format, but Samsung is still working on this technology before fully integrating it into potential future devices.

The battery life of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is nonetheless adequate. While the smartphone does not achieve the best results in the foldable phone market, it comfortably lasts a full day. You can even stretch it to two days of use by activating the “power saving” mode and not overusing the device.

Unfortunately, the charging story is less positive. Still stuck at a measly 25 W wired charging (15 W wireless), the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 takes just over 1h10 to fully charge. Let’s hope Samsung’s teams finally upgrade the smartphone to 45 W in the next iteration!

Clear Communications and Perfect Connectivity for Professionals

We used the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 as our main smartphone for just over a week for this review. With multiple phone calls, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger interactions, we never experienced any difficulties in reaching our contacts. The smartphone also does an excellent job of isolating our voice when we’re in a noisy environment to keep our call audible.

In terms of connectivity, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 supports Bluetooth 5.4 and Wi-Fi 7, which guarantee excellent performance with other connected devices like AirPods, a Google Pixel Watch, and especially the new Samsung Galaxy Watch 8. Pairing happens very quickly each time without any connection issues.

Our Final Thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 Test

Samsung has finally reached a mature stage with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. The foldable smartphone is no longer a “brick” that you feel in your pocket or bag with this new design very close to a conventional phone. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 stands out as the best reference in the market thanks to its sleekness, performance, and photo capabilities. Its battery life is generally good, but we’re eagerly awaiting improvements in charging next year, as well as better heat management.