OpenAI has confirmed plans to establish its first permanent office in London, signalling an expanded UK presence to meet rising demand for its services. The announcement comes days after OpenAI paused a major infrastructure project focusing on data centre buildout in the country.
The company has taken an 8222sqm site at Regent Quarter in King’s Cross, covering Jahn Court and the Brassworks Building.
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The development, led by Endurance Land, is designed to house up to 544 employees and is scheduled to open in 2027.
The move builds on OpenAI’s earlier decision to position London as its “largest” research hub outside the US.
At present, the company employs around 200 people in the city across multiple functions, including research, engineering, customer support, integrity, enterprise, start-ups, policy, communications, marketing and sales.
Further hiring is planned as operations scale, the company said in its statement.
The London team is already involved in key initiatives such as Codex and the company’s latest AI models, and will continue to contribute to research, product development and the safe deployment of AI technologies across the UK.
Its technology is currently used by organisations including NatWest, Veed and the University of Oxford.
Under a memorandum of understanding with the UK government, OpenAI has introduced data residency for UK customers,
It has also entered agreements with the Ministry of Justice and launched an SME Accelerator programme aimed at supporting smaller businesses.
OpenAI data research programmes global head and London site lead Phoebe Thacker said: “We are seeing real momentum in how businesses, developers and institutions across the UK are using AI, and we want to support that growth. This investment reflects our long-term commitment to the UK and the role it can play in shaping how AI is developed safely and used to benefit people all over the world.”
Separately, OpenAI has recently put its proposed Stargate UK AI infrastructure project on hold, pointing to regulatory uncertainty and high energy costs – an outcome widely viewed as a setback to the government’s push to draw major, large-scale AI investment.
