‘A huge vote of confidence’: London set to host OpenAI's largest research hub outside US

OpenAI has announced plans to launch a new research hub in London, its largest outside of San Francisco.

In a statement confirming the move, OpenAI said this marks a significant expansion of its footprint in the UK.

Staff operating out of the new hub will “own key components” of OpenAI’s frontier AI model research, the company said, testing real-world applications and driving development of safe AI models.

Mark Chen, OpenAI’s chief research officer, said London-based staff are already playing a key role in development of OpenAI solutions, such as Codex, and GPT-5.2.

“We are excited to establish London as a major research hub for OpenAI, building on the leading work our London team is already doing to support our latest breakthroughs,” he said.

OpenAI has held a strong foothold in the UK since mid-2023 following the opening of its London office, which marked the company’s first international expansion.

OpenAI London hub a “huge vote of confidence”

Science and technology secretary Liz Kendall said the announcement is a “huge vote of confidence” in the UK’s technology sector and “world-leading position at the cutting edge of AI research”.

“It also reaffirms the UK’s global leadership as the place to pursue AI innovation that is both safe and transformative,” she added.

“AI is already offering us better ways to treat disease, tailored support in classrooms, and new ways of harnessing clean affordable energy.”

OpenAI echoed Kendall’s comments in its announcement, noting that the expansion “reflects the UK’s unique concentration of world-class talent” in areas such as machine learning and sciences.

UK academic institutions are also a key factor in the move, OpenAI revealed. The country boasts an array of leading universities and “globally respected scientific institutions” which make it an ideal location for the company’s research.

“The UK brings together world-class talent and leading scientific institutions and universities, making it an ideal place to deliver the important research which will ensure our AI is safe, useful and benefits everyone,” Chen commented.

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