Anthropic Pushes Into Hardware as NYC Tops Bay Area in Tech Talent

Anthropic has hired Amir Salek to join its compute team. [2] Salek previously ran Google's TPU business until 2022. [2]

This recruitment effort is part of a push by Anthropic to expand into hardware. [1][2] Specifically, the company is aiming to develop its own chips. [2]

New York City has become the top tech talent market for the first time. [2] The city now counts 394,300 tech jobs, beating the San Francisco Bay Area's 375,730 positions. [2]

This transition is taking place amid job cuts in San Francisco and hiring in the New York City finance sector. [2] Additionally, the number of artificial intelligence-specific tech workers is growing rapidly. [2]

Anthropic's move to hire a former Google TPU executive highlights the growing necessity for leading AI labs to control their own hardware infrastructure, following a path paved by Google's custom silicon efforts. Meanwhile, the geographical shift in tech talent indicates that traditional hubs like the Bay Area are facing serious competition as AI and finance sectors drive growth on the East Coast. What the sources don't address: How quickly Anthropic expects to deploy its custom chips in production, and whether San Francisco will reverse its talent drain in the coming years.