What every U.K. AI startup wants to know these days is, how can I get office space in King’s Cross?  

The area is so hot that a VC firm allegedly recently won a deal by promising a founder office space in the neighborhood. “We stop at nothing to win deals [for] and to support” founders, “including helping them source office space when needed,” the firm told me when asked about the rumor, declining to confirm or deny any details. 

The neighborhood’s popularity began back in 2016 when DeepMind — then newly acquired by Google — moved in. Soon after, a flood of AI startups followed, wanting to be around the Google DeepMind magic. Today, they hope to take advantage of the cluster of AI talent there. 

This has transformed King’s Cross into one of the world’s top AI hubs, rivaled only by San Francisco and Beijing. Around London, it’s known by the sobriquet “Knowledge Quarter,” as it’s home to names like OpenAI, Meta, Isomorphic Labs, Cusp AI, Wayne, Recursive, and, a little farther down the road, Synthesia and Anthropic. The European Technology Network (ETN) just moved into a glossy new office nearby, while University College London sits around the corner.  

Mixed in with the new developments are trendy food spots like Hoppers and BAO. Hop a train from King’s Cross, and founders can be in Cambridge in 45 minutes to source talent or can be in Paris in two hours to strike a deal.  

Who would have guessed that a little more than 20 years ago, this was one of the seediest areas in London?  

“In the ’80s, crack and heroin made the area a major narcotics market,” Hussein Kanji, an investor at Hoxton Ventures, said, recalling syringes in tree trunks and gangs patrolling the streets. “In 1982, the local church was occupied by the English Collective of Prostitutes for 12 straight days.” Then, in the early 2000s, a real estate developer had a dream and, well, “now it is the AI hotbed of the United Kingdom,” Kanji said. “What a change.” 
 
Around 18 months ago, his portfolio company BioCorteX moved from the neighborhood Holborn to the Jellicoe building in King’s Cross, hoping to be near the action. “Lots going on in London right now,” Nik Sharma, co-founder of BioCorteX, told me. “Lots of hyperscalers moving in.” That includes, reportedly, Jeff Bezos’ AI company Prometheus, which is also said to be in talks to move into the Jellicoe.  

There are around 3,600 AI startups in London, which, together, have raised around $12.1 billion out of the $14.8 billion raised in the city since late July, according to Dealroom. Since the start of June, AI-related startups have leased more than 1 million square feet of office space in London, according to the real estate firm Knight Frank. With that, prime rents in King’s Cross have risen 18% over the past three years, Chris Dunn, a commercial insight associate at the firm, told me. 
 
That percentage represents only the largest leases encompassing at least 10,000 square feet, like the ones OpenAI and Prometheus are signing. The shorter deals go for even more, he said, and now the vacancy rate for conventional office space is just 0.9%. “Demand has outstripped supply,” he continued.  

Today, one of the big topics of the area is sovereignty. It was a wake-up call for many when Anthropic shut off access to Mythos and Fable this summer, leaving some in the ecosystem to conclude: “We’d better look after ourselves,” Saul Klein, co-founder of the VC firm Phoenix Court, told me.  

Phoenix Court is located in the King’s Cross area and has three portfolio companies in the vicinity, including Olix (which just announced a $3.3 billion valuation), Early Health and CoMind. Robin Klein, co-founder of the firm, said the shutdown of Fable and Mythos access was a “small but sharp reminder that Europe can’t simply rent its AI capabilities and capacity; it needs to build and hold some of its own.” King’s Cross, he said, is where much of this building is actually happening.  

“The bigger question,” he continued, “is whether the U.K. builds the infrastructure, compute, energy, capital, to make this self-reliance durable, rather than just hosting outposts of U.S. labs.” 

Top founders want to stay

Simon Kohl, founder of Latent Labs, has offices in King’s Cross and San Francisco. The London office, at the moment, is growing faster, and he’s more bullish than ever on the ecosystem, he said. “The mood right now feels less like London trying to catch up and more like London becoming one of the default places to start a serious AI company,” he said. 
 
Look around and you are likely to see Wayve testing its autonomous cars. Founded in 2017 by co-founder Alex Kendall, the unicorn is one of London’s biggest success stories.  

“Ten years ago, building a frontier AI company from London felt like an unusual choice,” Kendall told me. “Now it feels like an obvious one.” Wayve moved into King’s Cross in 2018 looking for a space that could double as a garage — “a rare combination in Central London,” Kendall said. He has watched the ecosystem mature around him — and it’s now evident that a startup can stay in London, raise serious capital, hire world-class AI talent, and remain globally competitive, he said. 
 
Down the street from Anthropic’s new 158,000-square-foot office is the AI agent builder Sierra and the AI video platform Synthesia. 

Laura Gonzalez Florez, Synthesia’s chief of staff and head of people, says the company moved into its glossy new office building a year ago to accommodate its growing team. They were drawn to the area for the same reason as everyone else: “It’s very close to the airport … very close to where a lot of investors are,” she said. 

Around two-thirds of Synthesia’s engineers are remote, Gonzalez Florez said, letting the company tap into an affordable, international, and diverse talent pool and helping it scale faster. “From London, we can hire and work, without any problem, people from anywhere, from Slovenia to Portugal,” she said.  

Unsurprisingly, London’s AI boom is also causing a talent war.

U.K. AI job postings have skyrocketed in the past few years, per data from PwC. When Anthropic announced it moved into town earlier this year, it listed, for example, a salary range of £260,000 to £630,000 for a machine learning research engineer when the average salary in London for the same role is around £102,000. Some founders in the U.K., like those in Silicon Valley, are being forced to raise more and bigger rounds to keep up. 

“The real test is whether more globally significant AI companies are founded, funded, and scaled from the U.K., while continuing to attract the world’s best talent to build them here,” Zain Ali, founder of the King’s Cross-based AI legal firm Centuro, told me. “If that continues to happen, King’s Cross won’t just be an AI hub. It’ll become one of the U.K.’s most important strategic assets.”

The Niger State Government has confirmed 17 deaths from diphtheria out of 124 cases recorded in three local government areas within the last seven months.

The Commissioner for Health, Murtala Bagana, disclosed this on Friday while presenting an overview of the state’s health sector at the Second Quarter Press Parley organised by the state Ministry of Information and Orientation in Minna.

Mr Bagana said 103 patients had been treated and discharged, while 17 deaths were recorded in Bida, Suleja and Shiroro local government areas.

He added that three new cases were recently identified, with one patient currently receiving treatment.

The commissioner said the government was strengthening disease surveillance, case management, immunisation and public awareness to contain the spread of diphtheria.

He urged parents and caregivers to ensure that children received all recommended vaccines, stressing that routine immunisation remained critical to preventing diphtheria, measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases.

100 PHCs for completion

Mr Bagana also disclosed that the state government was targeting the completion and operationalisation of 100 out of the 274 Tier-Two Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) being upgraded across the state by the end of 2026.

He said the ongoing PHC upgrade was part of the government’s efforts to strengthen primary healthcare delivery and improve access to quality healthcare services, particularly in underserved communities.

According to him, the administration of Governor Mohammed Bago had continued to prioritise investment in the health sector through infrastructure development, partnerships with development partners and timely payment of counterpart funds.

The commissioner said the government was also providing several free healthcare interventions to reduce the financial burden of treatment on residents.

He said accident victims were entitled to free treatment within the first 24 hours of presentation at designated health facilities, while victims of snake bites would also receive free treatment within the same period.

He added that Caesarean Section operations were being provided free of charge at five designated centres across the state.

Vaccines, he said, were also available free of charge at all primary healthcare centres, urging parents and caregivers to ensure that their children received the recommended vaccines.

Mr Bagana said the Ministry of Health was working towards enforcing relevant provisions of the Child Rights Act and other applicable regulations to ensure that children had access to routine immunisation.

IBBU medical students’ clinical training

On clinical training for medical students of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU), Lapai, Mr Bagana assured students and parents that arrangements were being made to provide clinical training facilities in Minna within the next six months to one year.

He explained that the arrangement became necessary following delays in the construction of the permanent IBBU University Teaching Hospital in Minna.

According to him, disagreements with the contractor handling the project affected its progress, but the issues had now been resolved.

“In view of that, we have lost some mileage, as there was some disagreement along the way. But finally, we are at the point where the contract would be re-awarded to another contractor who would take us to completion,” he said.

Mr Bagana said the government would not wait for the completion of the permanent teaching hospital before commencing clinical training for subsequent batches of medical students.

He said the permanent facility was projected to be completed within 18 months to two years, while interim arrangements were being made to enable students to undertake their clinical training in Minna.

“We are not waiting for the teaching hospital to be completed before we start training our students. Since the timeline for the completion of the hospital is now between 18 months and two years, in the next six months to one year, we will have our facilities ready for them,” he said.

The commissioner said Minna General Hospital was undergoing rehabilitation and would serve as a temporary clinical training facility for students of the IBBU College of Medicine.

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He added that the government was also working with a contractor to establish a laboratory medicine facility at the IBB Specialist Hospital, while the IBBU Guest House in Minna would provide accommodation for the students.

Mr Bagana recalled that the first batch of 41 medical students had moved to Zaria for clinical training pending the availability of suitable facilities in Niger State.

He said the interim arrangement would enable subsequent batches of students to undertake their clinical training in Minna while the government pursued completion of the permanent teaching hospital.

Measles cases

Also speaking at the press parley, an official, Samuel Jiya, said Niger State had recorded a decline in measles infections, with 31 cases reported this year.

He said nine of the cases tested positive and were treated, while two deaths were recorded.

The officials also disclosed that the present administration had engaged no fewer than 20 consultant doctors as part of efforts to address manpower shortages and strengthen healthcare delivery in the state.

Mr Bagana further disclosed that the state had secured malaria drugs worth N2.5 billion through partnerships with development partners.

He said the government had also recently conducted a free medical outreach targeting 1.5 million people.

According to him, the outreach provided free cataract operations, 1,500 pairs of eyeglasses and 500 walking sticks to beneficiaries.

He said similar interventions would be sustained in the state.

On HIV/AIDS, the commissioner said the prevalence rate in Niger remained below one per cent, adding that the government was taking measures to sustain and strengthen its partnership with the Global Fund.

Mr Bagana attributed the improvements recorded in the state’s health sector to the commitment of Governor Bago and collaboration with development partners.

He commended the state government for creating an enabling environment for effective healthcare delivery and urged the media to continue supporting the Ministry of Health through public health advocacy and sensitisation, particularly on routine immunisation and the prevention of vaccine-preventable diseases.