Billionaires warned New York would scare off business. Anthropic and Airbnb just made their biggest bets on the city yet

Some billionaires have spent the past year warning that New York City's political climate could scare away companies, capital, and high earners. But two fast-growing brands are moving in despite the noise.

Anthropic is leasing an entire 16-story office building at 330 Hudson Street in Manhattan, dramatically expanding Anthropic's New York footprint from a much smaller office (just around the corner, at 155 Sixth Avenue), and announcing the company is planning to double its workforce in the city. The Claude-maker, which had less than 500 employees in the city at the beginning of this year, expects to occupy all 16 floors of the building -- enough space for 1,700 desks -- and expects to have more than 1,000 employees by the end of the year. The company is currently hiring for roles in New York across research, engineering, policy, sales, and operations.

"New York is one of the main hubs for how AI is being put to work, and Anthropic is in the middle of it as a technology partner to the financial institutions, media companies, and cultural organizations that help define the city," Anthropic chief commercial officer Paul Smith told the New York Post in a statement. "Doubling our team here and deepening our long-term commitment to the city will allow us to sit closer to that work, and to the people driving it forward."

Simultaneously, Airbnb is making a major real estate bet on New York of its own. The company purchased 281 Park Avenue South, a six-story building in Gramercy, for $81.5 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. The building is expected to serve as a hub for Airbnb's New York-area workforce, which numbers more than 600 employees.

"New York City has been part of our story since the earliest days of Airbnb," CEO Brian Chesky said in a statement to AM New York. "This building reflects our long-term commitment to the city and will be home to one of our largest employee hubs outside of San Francisco. We're excited to keep investing in the city and the people who make it extraordinary."

Anthropic and Airbnb's moves defy Mamdani naysayers' predictions

The moves fly completely in the face of narratives put forward proclaiming New York City is becoming inhospitable to business. Billionaire investor Bill Ackman warned last year that if Zohran Mamdani became mayor, "You're going to see the flight of businesses from New York."

Citadel founder Ken Griffin has also urged New York business leaders to "fight for their city," warning that political choices could push talent elsewhere. Griffin himself has had a public feud with the mayor following a Tax Day video in which the young, self-described Democratic Socialist called out Griffin's penthouse apartment as the prime example of why the city would benefit from a pied-a-terre tax. Griffin's CCO at Citadel responded in a letter to investors that the company may decide to halt construction of a $6 billion building in midtown Manhattan -- something that has never actualized.