London is establishing itself as the European capital of AI following OpenAI's strategic decision

If Europe wants to establish itself as a strategic location for artificial intelligence giants, between political ambitions, talent, and technological infrastructure, capital cities are competing to attract the most advanced research laboratories.

As reported by Reuters, OpenAI has decided to transform its London office into its largest research center outside the United States. A decision that repositions London as a central AI hub in Europe… and leaves Paris behind in this competition.

London becomes OpenAI's European pillar

Present in the UK since 2023, OpenAI opened its very first international office in the British capital. Until now, the local teams worked primarily on the software and infrastructure necessary for the development and deployment of its models.

With this expansion, the London office is changing scale. In comments reported by Wired, Mark Chen, Director of Research at OpenAI, stated that the UK boasts world-class talent and leading scientific and academic institutions. This ecosystem is considered particularly favorable for developing safe and effective artificial intelligence systems. While the company did not specify the number of hires or the amount of investment, it currently has more than 30 employees in London. The new teams are expected to contribute to projects related to the security, reliability, and performance evaluation of models, while also participating in the development of products such as Codex and GPT-5.2. The British government welcomed the announcement as a strong signal. The Secretary of State for Science and Technology, Liz Kendall, sees it as a vote of confidence in national research and a confirmation of the country's position as a hub for AI innovation. This expansion is significant and puts OpenAI in direct competition with Google DeepMind, which has historically been based in London and is led by Demis Hassabis. Google's lab collaborates closely with institutions like the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, and employs around 2,000 people. Other players are also making their moves, with Microsoft having an AI hub in the British capital, while Anthropic has had a team there since 2023. The battle to attract researchers, PhD students, and engineers specializing in foundation models is therefore expected to be particularly intense. Beyond immediate recruitment, some analysts suggest a ripple effect, where talent trained or attracted by these labs could eventually create their own structures in the UK. This dynamic would sustainably strengthen the local ecosystem…