After five years, the “for rent” signs are disappearing from New York City’s office towers as the city welcomes a new influx of deep-pocketed tenants: AI companies.
Despite mounting fears about the threats artificial intelligence poses to the economy, Anthropic, Palantir, OpenAI and others have been hiring in New York, adding office space and driving a revival for the city’s beleaguered commercial centers. Legacy tech firms, which are investing heavily in their own AI products and capabilities, have also renewed their commitment to the boroughs.
In this way, at least, their arrival is a balm to the city. With the exception of the fanciest office buildings, vacancies are still higher than they were pre-pandemic, and the tech sector has lagged the finance industry and others in bringing workers back on-site. Then, as Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign gathered momentum, many local billionaires and business leaders predicted his election would scare off wealthy people and companies.
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