OpenAI expands footprint as it leases Manhattan office space: report
Contributor since / Followers
Ricardo Jato de Evan/iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Microsoft-backed (NASDAQ:MSFT) OpenAI is expanding its geographic footprint as it leases a 90,000-square foot office space in New York City, according to a report Friday by the Wall Street Journal.
The office space is located in Manhattan’s Puck Building in the Soho neighborhood, according to the report. This follows OpenAI’s lease last month on a six-story tower in San Francisco. It subleased buildings from Uber (UBER) in San Francisco last year as well.
The report comes after OpenAI’s latest $6.6B fund-raising round, which catapulted the company’s valuation to $157B. OpenAI is pivoting from a not-for-profit company to possibly becoming a publicly traded company at some point in the next year or so.
The Wall Street Journal report said the growth of AI companies is helping a mild resurgence in the commercial real estate sector. The sector has been pummeled ever since the covid pandemic. However, AI companies signed 57 leases in San Francisco alone in 2024. Meanwhile, Anthropic and Palantir (PLTR) have set up offices in locations ranging from New York, Seattle, Denver and Atlanta.