--- title: "14-Year-Old SpaceX Employee Furious When LinkedIn Restricts His Account for Being Too Young" description: "A 14-year-old prodigy is old enough to work at SpaceX, but not old enough to have a LinkedIn profile — and he's furious about it." date: "2023-06-15" modified: "2023-06-15" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/14-year-old-spacex-employee-linkedin" categories: - "Future Society" - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "linkedin" - "SpaceX" - "starlink" - "the digest" --- # 14-Year-Old SpaceX Employee Furious When LinkedIn Restricts His Account for Being Too Young ![A 14-year-old prodigy is old enough to work at SpaceX, but not old enough to have a LinkedIn profile — and he's furious about it.]() *SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 06: Kairan Quazi, a 14-year-old graduating from Santa Clara University and beginning a job soon as SpaceX's youngest software engineer, stands at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, Calif., on Tuesday, June 6, 2023. (Shae Hammond/Digital First Media/The Mercury News via Getty Images) \Image: Getty Images\* ## Big Mad A 14-year-old prodigy is old enough to work at SpaceX, but not apparently old enough to have a LinkedIn profile — and, unsurprisingly, he's furious about it. "We're excited by your enthusiasm, energy and focus. We can't wait to see what you do in the world," reads the message sent to [Kairan Quazi](), the youthful SpaceX Starlink hire who [posted a screenshot of it in outrage on his Instagram]() and Twitter accounts. "Because you currently do not meet the age eligibility criteria to join, we have restricted your account." The message added that Quazi would be able to rejoin the platform once he turned 16 — and that until then, he'd receive a refund for the [platform's pricey premium plan](). https://twitter.com/kairanquazi1/status/1668669593613930496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw ## Boy Wonder As one might imagine, the precocious Californian is not having it. "This is the illogical, primitive nonsense that I face constantly," Quazi wrote in his post's caption. "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?" He added that LinkedIn, by deleting his account, is "showing everyone how regressive some tech company policies are." ## Precocity Ironically enough, the world was alerted to Quazi's incredible achievement because, [as *Insider* reported](), he posted about it on his LinkedIn before it got kiboshed. Before that, he gained notoriety for being seriously precocious, starting college at the age of nine and becoming an artificial intelligence research fellow at Intel when he was just 11. "I think there's a conventional mindset that I'm missing out on childhood, but I don't think that's true," Quazi [told the Bay Area's ]()*[ABC7 News]().* "I think, again, that mindset would have me graduating middle school now." That same bravado is on full display in his outraged posts about his LinkedIn accounts, and frankly, we can't say we blame the kid given all that he's achieved in his short life. **More on SpaceX:** [*NASA Worried SpaceX's Failure Will Push Back Landing on the Moon*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()