As the San Francisco area of California saw its sharpest quarterly drop in office vacancies in 10 years in the second quarter of 2025, thanks largely to artificial intelligence company take-up, Dublin is hoping its reputation as Europe’s tech city could see it ride the same property wave.

With the original digital giants such as Apple, Google, Meta and Amazon making their home in Ireland’s low-tax business environment, it would seem to make sense that AI startups and expansionists follow them across the Atlantic.

But there are no guarantees that AI businesses will automatically focus on Dublin, and, until many are profitable, Ireland’s low-tax proposition may not be as magnetic.

However, there are early signs that AI is building a bigger presence, and, over recent months, there has been an uptick in AI companies establishing European and global hubs in Dublin.

The headline deal was when enterprise software group Workday signed for 416K SF in the largest lease in the EU this year. Workday said it was investing €175M and would build an AI centre of excellence within its new offices in Dublin, which would add 200 specialist AI roles over three years.

Among other significant announcements, U.S.-based infrastructure firm Crusoe in February opened its European headquarters at Ballast House, Temple Bar, with plans to hire around 100 people over the next three years.

Meanwhile, security-focused AI company CalypsoAI confirmed in late 2024 that Dublin would become its global co-headquarters, expanding its workforce locally to around 100 in the coming year with its main office at the Lennox Building, Dublin 2.

Earlier in 2025, OpenAI also announced it plans to expand its Irish office at The Liffey Trust Centre, Dublin 1, with OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar stating the Dublin office had started to grow and would become a location where the company can put research and apply it going forwards.

“We are definitely investing in Dublin," Friar said in a statement. "Ireland has managed to bring a really nice balance of regulatory sameness meets pragmatism, though recognising that the public and whoever it is you’re protecting also does need to feel safe."

AI company Gong, which provides services to revenue teams, announced in the summer it intends to expand operations at its EMEA headquarters in Dublin, creating 75 new jobs. Earlier this year, the San Francisco-headquartered firm surpassed $300M in annual revenues and has grown its Dublin workforce to 125 employees, with plans to increase that to more than 200, while it has relocated to the WeWork in Hines’s One Central Plaza.

“Our growth in Europe reflects a global shift, companies are embracing AI not just to keep pace, but to lead in highly competitive markets. Dublin plays a critical role in our global strategy,” Gong co-founder and CEO Amit Bendov said in a statement.

Established firms such as Anthropic — which is behind the Claude AI model that competes with OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini — have also continued to grow their Dublin operations significantly. Anthropic announced in April over 100 new European roles with much of the expansion centred on its Dublin and London offices.

Agent Colliers said technology, media and communications take-up in the first three quarters of the year had totalled 781K SF, or 365K SF excluding Workday, representing 40% or 19% of total take-up, respectively.

Clio, Hudson River Trading, Grid Beyond, Notion, EdgeTier and Quantexa are among those to have taken space in the sector, with footprints in the range from circa 1.5K SF to 10.3K SF.

“There have been a number of AI deals in 2025, although they have mostly been smaller deals, while larger tech companies like Workday are focusing more heavily on AI and expanding in Dublin,” Colliers Director and Head of Research Kate Ryan said.

That echoes the experience in San Francisco, where leases have been trending towards smaller footprints and shorter terms as AI companies remain big on their dreams but conservative in their space commitments.

“It’s hard to tell exactly where it will go," JLL Director Conor Fitzpatrick added, speculating that companies will probably be looking for office space in the range of 25K SF to 50K SF over the next three years.

"Staff numbers are quite low at the moment, but growth plans are big. I have met AI companies in spaces of 10K SF all the way up to 100K SF."