Tech giant arrives in SE1 with ping pong table, promise of disruption, and no local knowledge
By Harper-Thames | Shoreditch correspondent. Embedded. Possibly permanently.
Sources: Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat
They Have Arrived. The Question Is Why.
The arrival of OpenAI in London raises, for those of us who work and live in the streets they have chosen, a straightforward question: what do they actually want? Not the press release answer — “talent,” “innovation,” “proximity to European markets” — but the real answer. The answer you get when you ask someone at the end of a long meeting when the camera is off.
My theory: they want to be taken seriously by people who are very hard to impress. Shoreditch has seen tech booms, crypto evangelists, NFT pop-ups, and at least one man who tried to launch a blockchain for sourdough starters. We are not easily disrupted by people claiming to be disruptors. We require evidence.
What I Found on the Ground
I spent Tuesday morning standing outside the building that I believe will become their office — I say “believe” because the signage is not up yet and I was working from a leaked estate agent listing — and talking to people who work nearby. A graphic designer said she was “cautiously optimistic but had heard that before.” A man from the falafel van said, “They always come. They always leave. The rent stays up.” He is the falafel oracle and he is always right.
The BBC technology desk covered the OpenAI announcement with appropriate excitement. They did not mention the falafel oracle. This is a gap in their coverage.
What Shoreditch Needs From AI
We need the 149 bus to run on time. We need a system that flags when the Overground is going to fail before it fails rather than during. We need an AI that can explain planning permission. We do not need, and I say this with respect, another office with a slide and a wall that says “DISRUPT EVERYTHING.” As the AI chaos unfolds nationally, locally we would simply like it to be useful. Quietly, practically, humbly useful. This may be too much to ask. We are asking anyway.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/openai-opens-london-office/
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