The company cites London’s “exceptional talent pool” as a pull factor to the city, along with the UK’s broader effort to become a global hub for AI. 

The UK recently closed the consultation period on its AI Whitepaper, which proposed a “pro-innovation” approach to AI, avoiding heavy-handed regulation that could stifle innovation in the sector. 

Along with opening a new office, OpenAI will also be investing in lobbying efforts in the UK to shape favorable regulations for the industry in the UK. 

“We see this expansion as an opportunity to attract world-class talent and drive innovation in AGI (artificial general intelligence) development and policy,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. “We’re excited about what the future holds and to see the contributions our London office will make towards building and deploying safe AI.”

Along with favourable regulating conditions compared to countries in the EU, London is also the largest tech hub outside of North America and China, according to Savills. 

Last year, London tech companies secured £16.4 billion in venture capital funding across 1,770 deals, compared to £6.2 billion in 1,443 deals across the rest of the country combined.

OpenAI’s London office bodes well for the UK tech sector, after a streak of losing out on some high profile deals. The UK was accused of being “closed for business” by Activision after the Competition and Markets Authority  (CMA) blocked its merger with Microsoft in April.

Not long after, the UK’s largest chipmaker, Arm, chose to do its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange instead of London.  

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Now, the UK is doubling down on becoming an AI hub, already attracting major players like DeepMind, Google’s AI lab, Anthropic, and data giant Palantir.

“We are thrilled to extend our research and development footprint into London, a city globally renowned for its rich culture and exceptional talent pool,” said Diane Yoon, OpenAI’s VP of People. “We are eager to build dynamic teams in Research, Engineering, and Go-to-Market functions, as well as other areas, to reinforce our efforts in creating and promoting safe AGI.”