Reddit Cofounder Alexis Ohanian Advocates for Immigration Path at Tech Event

Alexis Ohanian, cofounder of Reddit and current head of the 776 Fund, delivered remarks on immigration during his acceptance speech at the Consumer Technology Association's Digital Patriots Dinner in Washington, D.C. Ohanian highlighted his family history, noting that his grandparents immigrated to the United States after fleeing the Armenian genocide and that his mother overstayed her visa before gaining citizenship.

He connected this background to his role in building Reddit, which he described as having a $30 billion market cap, thousands of American employees, and contributions to large language model training data.

In his speech, Ohanian stated that the country needs secure borders but also a pathway for many undocumented immigrants. He urged against generalizing or demonizing immigrants, emphasizing that those who earn their way into the country often appreciate it deeply.

The event occurred last night, and was attended by Michael Kratsios, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and science adviser to President Trump, along with other administration officials and industry representatives. Ohanian's comments were part of his induction into the Consumer Technology Association's CT Hall of Fame.

Other honorees included Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA), and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), who co-chaired the House AI Task Force. Ohanian has expressed similar views on social media previously.

Not every tech executive is out there critiquing the Trump administration. In fact, this was the week that Tim Cook announced that he would step down as CEO of Apple, and while there’s a lot everyone can say about his relationship with Trump (including the time Cook gave Trump a gold statue), the president has a long-standing habit of bragging about how often powerful people have humiliated themselves and begged for favors, and Cook — or as he called him, “Tim Apple” — was no exception.

As he recounted fondly on Truth Social: “For me it began with a phone call from Tim at the beginning of my First Term. He had a fairly large problem that only I, as President, could fix. Most people would have paid millions of dollars to a consultant, who I probably would not have known, but who would say that he knew me well.

The fees would be paid but the job would not have gotten done. ) calling, how big is that? ’” He then goes on to describe how often Cook “would call me, but never too much, and I would help him where I could,” and suggested that he had given Cook and Apple “3 or 4 BIG HELPS” over the years.

” But there are several recent examples of Trump explicitly carving out favors for Apple, including a tariff exemption last year after Apple committed to investing $100 billion into manufacturing iPhone parts in the United States. ) Cook, who will become the company’s executive chairman, now has more time to spend calling Trump’s cell phone directly.

Only four sitting members of Congress have computer science degrees, including Lieu and Obernolte. (Obernolte also has the distinction of holding an advanced degree in artificial intelligence, and being the founder of FarSight Studios, a video game studio.)