--- title: "There’s Something Bizarre About the Offices of AI Startups" description: "AI startups are scrambling to secure ostentatious offices to project legitimacy even if their staff numbers don't call for it." date: "2026-05-02" modified: "2026-05-02" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-startup-offices-nyc" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" --- # There’s Something Bizarre About the Offices of AI Startups ![Open-plan office space with multiple workstations featuring wooden desks, ergonomic white mesh chairs, and computer monitors. Large windows along one side allow natural light to fill the room. The office has a modern design with a carpeted floor, some personal items on desks, and a pet bed on the floor. In the background, there are lounge areas with sofas and additional seating.]() *Getty / Futurism* With questions swirling about whether hundreds of AI startups will ever translate the tech into real-world economic returns, new players in the space are scrambling to justify all the hype. One of the particularly baffling ways they're doing that is by renting attractive, grown-up office spaces in Manhattan — even if their business really only exists on a couple of MacBooks. Speaking [to the *Wall Street Journal*]() about the bizarre AI real estate market, vice chairman of New York brokerage at JLL Benjamin Bass said that AI startups are leasing offices vastly larger than their staff numbers actually require — and that's without getting into the fact that these are software-driven companies where pretty much all the work can be, and frequently is, done from home. For example, one AI health startup called Adonis leased a 25,000 square-foot office at 3 World Trade Center, the second tallest skyscraper at the office complex. Assuming the most [liberal use of space]() at 250 square-feet per worker, that kind of office is fit for a headcount of 100, at a minimum. Yet according to the *WSJ*, Adonis had just 25 employees when it signed the lease. That number has grown, but only to about 50 to 60 in-office workers. "We were basically giving the company a size-12 shoe, and we were size-4 at the time," co-founder and CEO Akash Magoon told the paper. "We figured it would be motivating." While some AI companies are trying to secure long-term rentals in the ultra-competitive landscape of New York City, others have found four walls a requirement to passing from startup to legitimate business. "We had a customer literally ask us if we were in-person as part of their diligence process," Caitilin Leksana, CEO of the AI startup Fazeshift told the *WSJ*. (Despite having a team of only around a dozen people, Fazeshift recently opened their [second office]() in Manhattan.) Whatever the reason, it's clear these companies are all flush with gobs of cash from their venture capital backers, which [continues to subsidize]() the vast majority of AI companies — and while the money spigot's flowing, they're busy trying to spend it in whatever flashy ways they can. **More on AI companies:** *[Dark Cloud Gathers as Bill Comes Due for AI Industry]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()