Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company known for the Claude chatbot, has announced plans to substantially increase its activities in New York City, United States. To achieve this, the company will lease a sixteen-story commercial building located in Lower Manhattan, specifically at 330 Hudson Street, in the Hudson Square neighborhood.
With this new headquarters, Anthropic aims to double its workforce in the city, projecting to reach one thousand employees this year. This new space will have capacity to accommodate over 1,700 workstations. Currently, the New York office is already the largest of the company outside its base in San Francisco, United States, and the move to the new location is expected to take place during the Northern Hemisphere's summer.
Anthropic's decision is part of a broader movement of AI companies expanding in New York. Both Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul have praised this investment. In a statement, Hochul emphasized that such an initiative will help consolidate New York as a world-class technology hub.
In recent years, several industry companies have increased their offices and intensified hiring in the city, despite concerns raised by public authorities about the effect of AI on the job market, particularly among office professionals. Recently, Thomas P. DiNapoli, the Comptroller of New York State, expressed apprehension, arguing that AI can 'harm the quality and productivity of a company's workforce and, more broadly, increase economic instability.'
Other companies have also expanded their presence in the region. OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT and considered responsible for the current growth of AI since 2022, moved in 2024 to the Puck Building, located less than two kilometers from Anthropic's new office. Harvey, another industry company focused on legal AI, expanded its office at One Madison Avenue, in Midtown Manhattan, at the beginning of this year.
Anthropic's expansion signals that AI is entering a phase of greater maturity, shifting from an exclusive focus on model development to encouraging its implementation across various segments of the economy. New York is a meeting point for some of the largest technology clients in the United States, covering sectors such as finance, healthcare, consulting, law, media, and culture.
Mark Muro, a senior researcher at the Brookings Institution division, considers New York an ideal location for AI companies to operate and negotiate. He was also a co-author of a previous institution report that classified New York as one of the leading metropolitan regions in the United States in 'AI readiness,' a metric that assesses both the capacity to create and adopt the technology.
Meanwhile, Chris Lehane, Global Public Affairs Director at OpenAI, stated that the company occupies approximately 8,360 square meters of office space in New York and will continue to expand its operations. Lehane justified that the city is a 'global center for AI' due to its 'density of AI talent, inherent entrepreneurial spirit, and political leadership of its elected representatives.'
This period of expansion occurs while Mayor Zohran Mamdani seeks to improve his relationship with the corporate sector. The politician, classified as a democratic socialist, has faced resistance from business owners for advocating for increased taxes on the wealthy and is also criticized for not having presented a detailed plan to deal with the slower pace of job growth in the city.
Jeanny Pak, interim president of the New York Economic Development Corporation under Mamdani's administration, stated that Anthropic's arrival 'will generate hundreds of jobs for New York residents, strengthening equitable pathways to economic opportunities and reinforcing that companies continue to choose the city of New York.'
Currently, New York has a significantly larger number of technology professionals compared to twenty years ago. About two decades ago, when a Google computer scientist suggested forming an engineering team in the city, company executives were skeptical, allowing the initiative only if fifteen developers meeting the company's standards could be found. Today, Google employs thousands of engineers in New York.
Although many young people face difficulties in the job market, AI companies continue to recruit. Anthropic's website lists numerous available positions in the city, concentrated in areas such as engineering, sales, marketing, and law. Julie Samuels, president of the Tech:NYC organization, acknowledged that the most advanced AI models are still developed mainly in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, she added that 'when it comes to how to use the technology in practice, what works and what doesn't work in business, they come here,' stating that 'this is where we are now.'
Despite the sector's growth, a portion of the New York population expresses apprehension about the progress of AI. Some parents question the use of this technology in the city's public schools. This issue also influenced a recent dispute in the Congressional primary elections in Manhattan. Additionally, state legislators recently approved a one-year moratorium on new large data centers focused on AI, citing environmental and energy consumption concerns. However, Governor Kathy Hochul indicated that she may veto this proposal.
Anthropic, which filed documents for its Initial Public Offering (IPO) last month, also plans to build a data center in upstate New York in collaboration with the company Fluidstack. This project is part of a total investment of US$ 50 billion (R$ 258.6 billion) aimed at constructing data centers in the United States. AI companies are also hiring former New York public administration employees to work in government relations.
Maxwell Young, former advisor to Mayor Eric Adams, joined Anthropic in November as head of public policy communications. Meanwhile, Peter Ragone, former advisor to former Mayor Bill de Blasio and California Governor Gavin Newsom, currently works for OpenAI.
In May, Mark Levine, Comptroller of New York City, released a report warning about the potential impacts of AI on the local labor market. Levine recommended that Mayor Zohran Mamdani present a clear strategy to ensure the city capitalizes on the sector's growth. In an interview with the Times, Levine stated: 'We must be the capital of applied AI, and a more coordinated strategy to make that happen is absolutely necessary.'
