Sam Altman’s OpenAI Eyes Former Dropbox Offices

Details around OpenAI’s Mission Bay expansion plans are becoming clearer.

The Sam Altman-led artificial intelligence giant is in talks to sublease former Dropbox headquarters offices spanning 200,000 to 250,000 square feet at 1800 Owens Street, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Dropbox has been retreating from the space little by little in recent years.

If the deal is completed, it will bring OpenAI’s presence in Mission Bay to about 1 million square feet. It also isn’t the only expansion deal in the works for the ChatGPT maker. The company is currently linked to another deal at 455 Mission Bay Boulevard, though there is “no confirmation of either deal closing,” a source familiar with the matter told the Chronicle. It is not clear whether the firm plans to occupy both 1800 Owens and 455 Mission Bay or is deciding between the two locations.

The 1800 Owens complex totals approximately 750,000 square feet and is located about half a mile from OpenAI’s existing offices in Mission Bay. Dropbox at one point occupied the entire building but began paring down its footprint during the pandemic, subleasing out much of the space.

The creator of ChatGPT has been on a growth spurt in Mission Bay since 2023, beginning that year with a nearly 500,000-square-foot sublease from Uber across two buildings on Third Street and continuing the following year with a full-building lease encompassing 315,000 square feet at 550 Terry A. Francois Boulevard. The latter deal marked one of the largest office deals in San Francisco in 2024.

Though OpenAI’s operations are concentrated in San Francisco, the ChatGPT giant is looking to grow into Silicon Valley. The company is looking to lease up to 500,000 square feet of offices in the global tech hub, reportedly touring offices in Mountain View.— Chris Malone Méndez