Tech
Inside OpenAI’s new Bellevue office: A swanky statement about AI’s impact on the Seattle region
OpenAI officially opened its new engineering office in downtown Bellevue, Wash., on Thursday, unveiling a retro-modern, wood-paneled space for its 250 employees in the region — with enough room in the tower to ultimately accommodate as many as 1,400 people.
It’s already the ChatGPT and Codex maker’s biggest office outside its San Francisco headquarters, and a sign of the AI industry’s impact on the Seattle area.
“This is a monumental day for OpenAI and Bellevue,” said Vijaye Raji, OpenAI’s CTO of applications, as he cut the ceremonial ribbon with Bellevue Mayor Mo Malakoutian.
The office puts OpenAI within close proximity of two of its biggest investors and partners: Microsoft in nearby Redmond and Amazon in Bellevue and Seattle. The opening comes less than a week after Amazon announced a $50 billion investment in the company.
It marks the latest milestone in OpenAI’s rapid expansion. The company first arrived in Bellevue in 2024, seeking to tap the region’s engineering talent pool. Last month, OpenAI scaled up, signing a lease to boost its footprint to nearly 300,000 square feet in City Center Plaza.
OpenAI currently occupies two floors with the ability to add 10 more as it grows.
The Bellevue office includes teams working on infrastructure, ChatGPT, research, and advertising, in addition to partnerships, an early sign of its expansion beyond engineering.
Statsig, the Bellevue startup Raji founded in 2021, forms the nucleus of the new office. OpenAI acquired the company for $1.1 billion last year, bringing Raji aboard as a key technical leader.
The space is built around a sweeping wood-clad central staircase connecting its two current floors, and lounge-like common areas designed for informal gatherings, including a library (yes, there are a few books) and a game room. Those were deliberate choices to encourage the kinds of connections that remote work can’t replicate, Raji said in an interview at the event.
Malakoutian, the Bellevue mayor, called the opening “a vote of confidence” in the city, which has specifically courted AI companies as part of a broader economic development push.
In a recent interview with GeekWire, Malakoutian said companies are drawn to predictable permitting, modern infrastructure, and quality of life, offering a competitive edge in recruiting. A light rail line connecting the Eastside to Seattle across Lake Washington opens this month.
Elon Musk’s xAI is creating an engineering center a short walk away. Cloud and AI infrastructure company Crusoe opened a Bellevue office last year. Companies including Snap, Anduril, Shopify, Snowflake, Uber, and Databricks have signed new or expanded leases in the city.
Gov. Bob Ferguson, appearing via recorded video, noted that the region ranks among the top in the country for AI talent, saying it’s “very well-positioned to become a global hub for AI.”
Matt McIlwain, managing director at Madrona Venture Group, which was an early investor in Statsig, called the new office an example of a “virtuous cycle” of local founders building startups that attract larger employers. He credited Raji for pushing to build a critical mass for OpenAI in Bellevue, which has been “more on its front foot” than Seattle in courting tech companies.
But given ongoing tax debates in the state, in which McIlwain and others in the tech community have been vocal, he questioned whether lawmakers appreciate the dynamic.
“The folks in Olympia clearly do not understand that flywheel,” he said.
For Raji, the opening is the latest chapter in a larger story. The region has been his home for 23 years, starting when Microsoft recruited him to the area. He later joined Facebook’s Seattle office and helped it grow locally from a handful of employees to 5,000 as its regional leader.
In that way, the OpenAI expansion is part of a familiar pattern.
“You can see the sequence,” Raji said, crediting the region’s talent pool and growth. “So it’s only natural that now, with all the AI investments, this area is again back in the center.”