Highlights
- Anthropic plans office space for 800 people against OpenAI's 500.
- Both companies currently employ around 200 people each in London.
- Anthropic's expansion follows a UK government campaign to court the company after its Pentagon dispute.
Anthropic, the maker of the Claude AI chatbot, stated that it is expanding its London presence with new office space large enough to accommodate 800 people.
The announcement came just days after rival OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, unveiled plans for its first permanent London office with capacity for over 500 team members.
What makes the rivalry more striking is the geography. Both companies are setting up in the same corner of London.
Anthropic's new office will be in the Knowledge Quarter, while OpenAI has signed a lease in the nearby King's Cross area, a neighbourhood already home to Google DeepMind, Meta, Synthesia and Wayve.
Pip White, Anthropic's head of EMEA north, told CNBC that London was already one of the company's most important research and commercial hubs outside the US.
"Our expansion in the Knowledge Quarter gives us the room to grow into," she said, adding that the UK combined ambitious enterprises with an exceptional pool of AI talent.
Britain's AI moment
OpenAI's London site lead Phoebe Thacker echoed similar sentiments, describing London as a key hub for research and teams. "This new office gives us the space to keep building here," she noted.
Both companies currently employ around 200 people each in London, meaning both are planning significant headcount growth.
Notably Anthropic is going bigger, with space for 800 people against OpenAI's 500.
The twin announcements arrive at a significant moment for Britain's AI ambitions. The UK launched its AI Opportunities Action Plan at the start of 2025 and AI funding has already hit $6.7 bn this year, nearly matching the $8.2 bn raised across the whole of 2025, according to Dealroom.
Anthropic's expansion also follows a reported campaign by UK officials to court the company after its dispute with the US Pentagon over the use of its AI models.
UK officials reportedly proposed office expansion in London and a dual listing as part of efforts to attract the company, the Financial Times reported.
Anthropic has been gaining significant momentum. The company raised $30 bn at a $380 bn valuation in February and has fielded venture capital offers to invest at an $800 bn valuation.
The company recently released its coding agent Claude Code alongside its Mythos AI model, which is designed to identify weaknesses and security flaws in software.
The UK still lags behind the US and China in both technological innovation and funding, even as its startup ecosystem grows rapidly.
