Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind Claude, is establishing its Cambridge base, signing a 24,000 square foot lease in Kendall Square, according to a Tuesday announcement.
The long-term lease spans two floors of the One Kendall Square mixed-use office and lab space. The new location can accommodate 120 workstations and will allow the company to grow its presence in Cambridge, more than doubling its current local team of 50 employees who had previously been stationed at a WeWork co-working facility in Central Square.
Anthropic’s venture into the innovation ecosystem of Kendall Square comes amid ongoing efforts by local entrepreneurs and tech developers to put the Boston area on the map as a hub for AI research — an effort backed by Massachusetts Governor Maura T. Healey ’92.
In February, Healey announced a partnership between Massachusetts and OpenAI, which owns ChatGPT, at a launch event for the Massachusetts AI Coalition — a private-sector effort to boost AI innovation and industry connections in the state. Boston AI Week, an organization with a similar mission to bring together AI organizations in the greater Boston area, is hosting their second annual week-long festival at the end of the month.
Boston has drawn other AI companies in the past few months, including a 40,000-square-foot lease signed by biotech firm AI Proteins at One Kenmore Square and a 6,000-square-foot lease by the coding startup Lovable in the Financial District. But the region still trails technology capitals like the San Francisco Bay Area, which drew nearly half of national AI investment in 2025.
Anthropic, currently the most valuable private AI startup in the world, is valued at roughly $965 billion. And as the company looks to expand its footprint, it eyed Cambridge’s biotechnology hub in Kendall Square for its next office.
“Cambridge is a natural place for Anthropic to put down roots,” Daniela Amodei, Anthropic’s president and co-founder, wrote in a statement.
Amodei added that Cambridge’s existing network of technology and life sciences research made the city a particularly appealing target.
“It’s where some of the world’s leading life science researchers are using Claude to accelerate their work, among the more than a million people across Massachusetts who now use our products,” she wrote.
Anthropic intends to move into the office space early next year, which houses multiple biotech research companies and retail stores across its 11-building campus.
However, the expansion of AI in Massachusetts remains a contentious topic on Beacon Hill as negotiations over AI transparency have become a focus of debate in the legislature. The Senate’s recently passed economic development bill implements safeguards and development restrictions for AI companies — a move Anthropic supported in the statehouse.
The bill requires third-parties to regularly review frontier AI labs such as Anthropic, OpenAI and Google. Anthropic endorsed this legislation in June, setting it apart from other major AI companies, many of which have supported less drastic oversight.
But despite the regulations, Amodei praised Cambridge for the scientific promise that drew the company to sign the lease — citing proximity to universities and research institutions as key advantages of a Cambridge office.
“We’re excited to grow our team alongside the scientists, universities, and institutions tackling some of the world’s most important problems,” Amodei wrote.
—Staff writer Maahi A. Bose can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at @maahibose.36. Follow her on X @BoseMaahi.
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