Some billionaires have spent the past year warning that New York City’s political climate could scare away companies, capital, and high earners. But two fast-growing brands are moving in despite the noise.
Anthropic is leasing an entire 16-story office building at 330 Hudson Street in Manhattan, dramatically expanding Anthropic’s New York footprint from a much smaller office (just around the corner, at 155 Sixth Avenue), and announcing the company is planning to double its workforce in the city. The Claude-maker, which had less than 500 employees in the city at the beginning of this year, expects to occupy all 16 floors of the building—enough space for 1,700 desks—and expects to have more than 1,000 employees by the end of the year. The company is currently hiring for roles in New York across research, engineering, policy, sales, and operations.
“New York is one of the main hubs for how AI is being put to work, and Anthropic is in the middle of it as a technology partner to the financial institutions, media companies, and cultural organizations that help define the city,” Anthropic chief commercial officer Paul Smith told the New York Post in a statement. “Doubling our team here and deepening our long-term commitment to the city will allow us to sit closer to that work, and to the people driving it forward.”
Simultaneously, Airbnb is making a major real estate bet on New York of its own. The company purchased 281 Park Avenue South, a six-story building in Gramercy, for $81.5 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. The building is expected to serve as a hub for Airbnb’s New York-area workforce, which numbers more than 600 employees.
“New York City has been part of our story since the earliest days of Airbnb,” CEO Brian Chesky said in a statement to AM New York. “This building reflects our long-term commitment to the city and will be home to one of our largest employee hubs outside of San Francisco. We’re excited to keep investing in the city and the people who make it extraordinary.”
Anthropic and Airbnb’s moves defy Mamdani naysayers’ predictions
The moves fly completely in the face of narratives put forward proclaiming New York City is becoming inhospitable to business. Billionaire investor Bill Ackman warned last year that if Zohran Mamdani became mayor, “You’re going to see the flight of businesses from New York.”
Citadel founder Ken Griffin has also urged New York business leaders to “fight for their city,” warning that political choices could push talent elsewhere. Griffin himself has had a public feud with the mayor following a Tax Day video in which the young, self-described Democratic Socialist called out Griffin’s penthouse apartment as the prime example of why the city would benefit from a pied-a-terre tax. Griffin’s CCO at Citadel responded in a letter to investors that the company may decide to halt construction of a $6 billion building in midtown Manhattan—something that has never actualized.
For their part, both Mamdani and New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul supported Anthropic’s announcement, and other local politicians cheered the investment into the city.
“I’d rather have these tools being built here, so that we benefit from that economic vitality and so that it’s New Yorkers who are shaping these tools; people who ride the subway every day, diverse New Yorkers,” City Comptroller Mark Levine told NY1.
Hochul touted memory chipmaker Micron’s $100 billion semiconductor project in New York as “leading the resurgence” and saying that the state “is the place if your business wants to grow and thrive.”
For Anthropic and Airbnb, New York appears too strategically important to abandon.
For Anthropic, the city seems to offer proximity to the very industries now racing to adopt generative AI: finance, media, legal services, consulting, advertising, health care, and enterprise technology. Anthropic’s careers site currently lists New York City as an available location for multiple jobs, including technical and research roles. Anthropic has also framed its broader U.S. expansion as part of a much larger infrastructure buildout. In November, the company announced a $50 billion investment in American AI computing infrastructure, including data centers in New York.
Airbnb’s New York move is more notable because this is the first expansion of Airbnb into the city following a years-long feud that left with local politicians passing a 30-day minimum stay requirement for all Airbnb listings. The company has spent years battling the city over short-term rental restrictions, like Local Law 18, adopted in 2022, which curtailed Airbnb’s core short-term rental business in one of the world’s largest travel markets. Even so, Airbnb is buying a permanent home in Manhattan.
Anthropic and Airbnb did not respond immediately to Fortune’s request for comment.
A move to more tax efficient states
The two expansions come at a sensitive moment for New York’s business community. Progressive city policies, proposed taxes on the wealthy, housing affordability fights, and public safety concerns have all fueled warnings that companies could choose lower-tax states.
In recent years, several high-profile billionaires have relocated to Florida, a state with no personal income tax. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced in 2023 that he was leaving Seattle for Miami after nearly three decades in Washington, while former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said earlier this year that he and his wife were moving from Seattle to Florida.
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