Kairan Quazi, the 14-year-old genius who graduated college eight years early and will soon start a full-time job at Elon Musk’s SpaceX, has slammed LinkedIn as “primitive” for deeming him too young for the platform.
Next month, Quazi will be relocating to Washington State with his mom to begin work as a software engineer on SpaceX’s Starlink team.
While certain aspects of Quazi’s life have been accelerated into adulthood, his age still counts for something in certain aspects of his life.
In a recent interview with local newspaper the Mercury News, one of his classmates noted that although Quazi feels like a peer, talk of college parties and drinking in his presence is kept off of the table. And despite landing a full-time position with a prestigious space exploration company, the teenage prodigy is still not allowed to have a LinkedIn account.
In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Quazi shared a screenshot of a message from the professional networking platform, which had informed him his account had been restricted.
“We're excited by your enthusiasm, energy and focus. We can't wait to see what you do in the world," the message read, but it went on to point out that the minimum age requirement for LinkedIn account holders was 16.
"Because you currently do not meet the age eligibility criteria to join, we have restricted your account,” the message continued. “You are welcome back on the platform once you turn 16 or older.”
A spokesperson for LinkedIn confirmed to Fortune on Thursday that Quazi had indeed had his account restricted due to his age.
"We appreciate his enthusiasm to join LinkedIn and applaud his incredible success, however we have an age limit in place of 16 years of age and that extends to all members," they said.
The organization’s terms and conditions state that LinkedIn’s services “are not for use by anyone under the age of 16.”
Quazi, however, suggested in his Instagram post that he should be afforded an exception to LinkedIn’s minimum age rules, slamming the Microsoft-owned firm as “regressive.”
“This is the illogical, primitive nonsense that I face constantly,” he said. “I can be qualified enough to land one of the most coveted engineering jobs in the world but not qualified enough to have access to a professional social media platform?”
Fortune confirmed that Quazi’s LinkedIn account—which he used to announce last week that he would soon be starting a job as a software engineer at SpaceX—is no longer accessible.
'Arbitrary and outdated proxy'
When announcing his career news via LinkedIn last Thursday, Quazi labeled SpaceX “one of the rare companies that did not use my age as an arbitrary and outdated proxy for maturity and ability.”
Quazi, who recently graduated with Santa Clara University (SCU)’s class of 2023, is the youngest graduate in the institution’s 172-year history.
He started attending Las Positas community college in California at 10 years old, landing an internship at the same age with Intel Labs as an A.I. research co-op fellow. He transferred to SCU at age 11, focusing his education on computer science and engineering.
However, Quazi’s intellectual capabilities haven’t stopped him from facing obstacles—before securing a position with SpaceX, he reportedly applied for dozens of jobs and was left with 95 rejections and three full-time job offers. His academic advisor told the Mercury News that Quazi struggled with being taken seriously because of his youth.
