Compare the Top 5 Pillows
Honorable Mentions
There are far too many pillows on the market. We’ve listed our favorites above, but even that doesn’t cover the wide array of serviceable designs out there for a good night’s sleep. If, somehow, all of our picks above aren’t to your tastes, here are a few others we have tested and what we thought about them.
Avocado Down Pillow for $109: This down model does have feathers sourced from Responsible Down Standard (RDS)-certified farms, but it felt unimpressive and borderline flat to sleep on
Avocado Green Pillow for $119: Avocado’s fill is made from GOLS-certified organic latex and GOTS-certified organic kapok, and comes in both a standard shape and side-sleeper curved shape. It felt much denser than others we tried, and my test panel and I preferred other latex pillows over this one.
Bedgear Storm Pillow for $200: This model from Bedgear is similar to the Bedgear Flow above but without the curve for side sleepers. If you sleep on your back 100 percent of the time, this might be a better fit, but I prefer the versatility of having one curved side and one straight side. –Eric Ravenscraft
Brooklinen Down Alternative Pillow for $59: I liked this better than Brooklinen’s actual down pillow, since it had better spring and support. (I chose the firm option for testing.) I prefer the Buffy Cloud for a down alternative, but this is a solid runner-up.
Casper Hybrid Pillow for $129: This hybrid uses a mix of thick foam and a core of shredded foam for its marshmallow-like, dense-yet-soft feel. I liked sleeping on the Casper, especially the cooling Snow version ($149), and it did well in my panel tests, but both of my panelists who volunteered to long-term test it came back with disappointing results within a week. My petite side sleeper found it too firm, and my taller, broader long-term tester found that the Casper wasn’t bouncing back quite as much as it should be for the price after a week of sleeping on it. If you like a firm-ish design, though, you could be happy with this one. The Snow version is slightly cooling, but not super cooling; more of a good winter option for hot sleepers, as one of my panel testers said.
Eli & Elm Everyday Memory Foam Pillow for $110: Compared to the latex version below, the memory foam version feels lumpy. Most of my panelists disliked it, including myself, but my chaotic sleeper was a fan of its malleable shape for her haphazard sleeping patterns.
Eli & Elm Everyday Latex Pillow for $110: This shredded latex-filled pillow is nice and springy, and it’s a solid runner-up to the Coop and Purple. I found it comfortable to sleep on as a side sleeper, since it as a higher loft and nice support.
Eli & Elm Side Sleeper Pillow for $116: This pillow is almost shockingly firm out of the box. You can customize the amount of fill inside to give it the right amount of support for you, but if you’re the type of side sleeper who likes firm support, this might be the one for you. It even comes with a separate removable cover for easy washing. It’s smaller than the Scrumptious one, so don’t expect to do much cuddling on this one, but for one person it’s a great choice. —Eric Ravenscraft
GhostBed Memory Foam Pillow for $85: Former WIRED reviewer Medea Giordano has been using the memory foam GhostBed pillow since 2020—she slept on it while visiting with a friend and immediately bought one after returning home. It’s medium-firm and works for her side-, back-, and stomach-sleeping rotation. GhostBed’s claim of it being the “Coolest Pillow in the World” is exaggerated, but Medea sleeps hot, and she says the gel-infused foam does stay cool all night.
Marlow the Pillow for $49: This is another shredded memory foam model, though it was less lumpy and had better support than the Eli & Elm. It was a little smaller than the rest, but it also has a slight adjustment option, letting you unzip side panels to make it bigger or smaller. It was fine to sleep on; I found it a little firm for my liking, but my long-term tester says it’s been supportive and cleared up her neck pain. It’s a good option for the price too.
Nest Easy Breather Pillow for $119: This is a popular model, but I found it too dense and too lofty for me. It is adjustable, so you can easily make it less lofty, and it comes with a fill bag to store your extra fill. The fill is a mix of foam and polyester fiber. My panelist who liked the firmer Marlow also liked this pillow, while the rest of us preferred softer options.
No More Aches Neck Pillow for $50: There’s no shortage of novelty pillows, but as someone who experiences a lot of neck pain, I’m intrigued by this odd little design. It has a concave center for back, side, and stomach sleeping, plus an indented edge that perfectly fits your arm. Its awkward shape makes it less than ideal for anything other than laying your head on it, but it’s still a solid pick for neck pain. —Eric Ravenscraft
Parallel High Profile Pillow for $150: Former WIRED reviewer Eric Ravenscraft was a fan of the Parallel’s high profile for taller side sleepers. It’s a good option, but I think you’ll be just as happy with a Purple or Coop cutout if you need a high loft and side sleeper support.
Pillow Cube Side Cube ($70) and Ice Cube ($90): The Pillow Cube has a weird little rectangular design. It seems strange at first, but once you take the quiz and get a recommendation for what size you need, you’ll be matched with the perfect cube for you. I tested the Side Cube and the Ice Cube. They were supportive and a bit squishy, and I think they’d be a good option if you sleep exclusively on your side—with your arms stretched in front of you or near your chest. I usually sleep with my arm stretched under my pillow, so my head is resting on my shoulder (with a pillow in between), and I found the Cube was less supportive if I slept in my preferred position. And on the nights when I rolled onto my back, I woke up with neck pain. But if you only sleep in the ideal side sleeper formation, this model is much more supportive than others I’ve tried. Make sure you pick up a case! A normal case is too roomy and doesn’t fit the Cube well. —Louryn Strampe
Purple DreamLayer Pillow for $199: If you find you switch between being a side sleeper and back sleeper, the Purple DreamLayer pillow provides an excellent middle ground. Rather than using adjustable fill to customize its height, this model comes with two foam inserts so you can get exactly the level of support you need. —Eric Ravenscraft
Purple GridCloud Pillow for $149: This pillow is a softer, squishier design with the grid layer we love from the Purple Freeform and Harmony, but it has only one side with the grid instead of two. It’s described as having a down-alternative core, and it does feel much softer, like a down alternative. I preferred the support of Purple’s other models, but if you want something softer with better support than just a down or down alternative filling, this is a great option.
Saatva Graphite Memory Foam Pillow for $165: This model is slightly cooling, and has a fluffier feel compared to more sinkage-style memory foam.
Saatva Down Alternative Pillow for $115: I like this down alternative, but not more than the much cheaper Buffy. There are two loft height options which is nice if you want something specific.
Sleep Number True Temp Adapt Ultimate Pillow for $150: I tested the Ultimate shape since it’s a slight crescent-like style that’s ideal for side sleepers like myself. I like this as a side sleeper option, and it’s nicely cooling as well. It’s a little smaller than the Coop, but still big enough for the average-sized person.
Slumber Cloud UltraCool Pillow for $79: This pillow is super chilly and super soft, similar to a down or down alternative model. If you’re looking for something extra cool and like the light, malleable support of a down pillow, this is a good choice.
Snuggle-Pedic Adjustable Cooling Pillow for $57: This was our favorite pillow under $100, but it’s out of stock everywhere right now. If you can find it available, it’s a great option filled with shredded memory foam that you can adjust to get your perfect height.
Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Adapt ProAdjust Pillow for $125: This adjustable-fill model from Tempur-Pedic has a compartment where you can add or remove foam filling to get the perfect amount of support for you. This is an increasingly common feature, but what sets it apart is Tempur-Pedic’s trademark cooling materials. The company makes some of the best cooling materials on the market, and this one managed to stay cooler than most I tried. —Eric Ravenscraft
Tempur Pedic Tempur Adapt ProHi for $175: Our previous memory foam pick did fine in my panel tests, but we all preferred shredded memory foam over a solid sheet. Someone did volunteer to long-term test this as a knee support while they slept, though.
Tempur-Breeze ProHi Pillow for $229: is a wider, more spacious alternative to the Tempur-Adapt ProHi. It has a similarly high loft, and the foam is firmer and more resistant to pressure than the Adapt. It’s a better fit if you prefer a firmer option, or if you want space to share it with your cuddling partner. —Eric Ravenscraft
Understanding Pillow Sizes
There are a couple different pillow sizes you might find when shopping. Most of the time pillows come in a standard size and a king size, and you should buy a standard size unless you have a king-size bed. But there are a few more size options.
All bed pillows are usually 20 inches wide, but the length can vary. (That’s why your pillowcases might seem too long—they’re prepared for larger sizes!) If you’re curious about more sizes or found a model that has more options to choose from than you know what to do with, here are the usual sizes you can find and what measurements they should have:
- Standard Size: 20 inches by 26 inches
- Super Standard Size: 20 inches by 28 inches
- Queen: 20 inches by 30 inches
- King: 20 inches by 36 inches
- Body: 20 inches by 54 inches
You’ll want to double-check listings to see what size you’re really working with if size is an issue for you. Buffy, for example, lists a standard size for its pillows, but they’re 28 inches long, making those pillows a super standard size. You won’t want to order king-size pillows without a king-sized bed, especially since you’ll need king-size pillowcases with your sheets. Body pillows are the longest of all, and we have a separate guide to those.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Kind of Pillow Do You Need?
You might think a pillow is a pillow. It just has to be soft and fit under your head, right? Your head, neck, and back disagree. Getting a good night’s sleep can depend heavily on your pillow, so when choosing one, here are a few key questions to ask.
What kind of sleeper are you? Do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach? Do you stay relatively still, or do you toss and turn a lot? Do you usually have one pillow under your head, or do you cocoon yourself into a pillow chrysalis? This is probably the most important thing to keep in mind when deciding what type works best for you, and we’ve noted our picks below based on sleeping style.
What is the pillow made of? Pillows can be filled with all types of materials, from feathers to foam. Down and synthetic down are fluffy clusters of fiber that can feel soft and comfortable, whereas memory foam is designed to compress with the weight of your head but still return to its previous shape. Organic latex can be heavy and spongey, holding a side-sleeper’s head in place. There are also hybrid pillows that use multiple layers of different materials for a more structured feel.
How are the materials sourced? Since some materials like down feathers come from animals, you might want to be aware of how manufacturers get their fill (literally). Down filling typically comes from the belly feathers of either ducks or geese. In order to ensure that down feathers are ethically sourced—such as by avoiding cruel practices like live plucking—programs like the Responsible Down Standard set criteria that manufacturers must adhere to. Another option is to look for synthetic down alternatives, which use cotton, rayon, or polyester as a synthetic replacement. The broader Material Matters Standard is a recently overhauled system for examining the environmental impact and sustainability of bedding manufacturers.
How firm is it? However you sleep, you’ll want a pillow that keeps your spine straight and your head aligned with your back. That means you want something firm enough to support your head yet soft enough that it doesn’t dig into your ear or face.
How lofty is it? “Loft” is a term often used to describe how high off the bed the pillow keeps your head. If it’s too tall, for example, you might end up with your neck tilted upward, straining it throughout the night. Most models typically fall into one of three categories: Low loft, which is relatively short and ideal for back sleepers; high loft, which is better for side sleepers (since your head will be further off the bed than when you’re on your back); and medium loft, which is somewhere in the middle and best if you’re a combination sleeper who doesn’t stick to one particular sleep style.
What is the warranty and return policy? You might not think the pillow you sleep (and sweat and drool) on would have a robust warranty, but many manufacturers offer generous policies. For example, Purple offers a one-year warranty and even a 100-night trial period. Casper has a similar warranty and a 30-day trial. If you’re unsure whether your new pillow is right for you, check out the company’s policies to see what leeway you have to try before you commit—and make sure you’re protected if something goes wrong.
What’s the Best Pillow Fill for You?
A variety of filling materials are used, and the type of fill is a big part of how pillows are categorized. You’ve heard of down pillows, for example, which means it’s full of down undercoating or feathers, and hearing the words “memory foam” usually invokes the sinking sensation that good memory foam can give. Here’s a quick explainer of the main types of fill you’ll find and how they differ.
Down: Down pillows, as I mentioned above, are filled with either down clusters (an undercoating on ducks) or down feathers, or a mix of both. It’s a fill that’s been around for ages, and it feels similar to a comforter in the sense that it’s soft and squishy, and very malleable to shape in any way you prefer. (But it also doesn’t retain its shape well.) Since these are filled with down clusters or feathers, you’ll want to check for certifications, like the Responsible Down Standard (RDS), that confirm if the down was ethically sourced.
Down alternative: These pillows aren’t a set type, but use other materials to replicate the down experience. Buffy, for example, uses recycled plastic to create their fill, while Saatva uses a combination of memory foam and latex foam. You’ll have to take a look to see what makes up any down alternative design, since it isn’t consistent. But what is consistent is the different feel. In my tests, I’ve found down alternative models are usually more supportive and do a better job holding their shape than a classic down.
Memory foam: Memory foam is popular since it can “remember” its original shape, letting it return to its previous form once your head is off the pillow. Memory foam does have a sinking sensation to it, which you might like or dislike. You’ll also want to check if the memory foam is a solid sheet or shredded; I’ve found shredded and cut memory foam to have more bounce and support and less sinkage than a memory foam sheet.
Latex foam: Latex foam is made from rubber, giving it a much bouncier, supportive feel than other foam options. Latex foam is becoming a popular option thanks to that nice support, and it is usually found with a shredded type of fill that gives plenty of airflow.
Hybrid: Hybrid is another category gaining in popularity. It can be a mix of any of the above fills, but I often find it’s a sheet of foam combined with either shredded foam or some other kind of softer filling. Casper, for example, uses both sheets of memory foam and then has a core of shredded foam at the center to give it its marshmallow-like feel.
Cotton, kapok, and wool: These fills are all natural fibers that take less processing than foam, and could be used in a blend with other materials above. Kapok and cotton are supposed to be on the fluffy end, while wool is great for temperature regulation. But none are as popular as foam or down options, though you might see these as ingredients in organic or hybrid options.
Are Standard and Queen the Same Pillow Size?
No, a standard size is a little smaller at only 26 inches wide, while a queen size should be 30 inches wide. You might want to check the measurements in case it’s mislabeled to be the same thing, but if you have the choice between the two, I prefer a few extra inches with the queen size.
Why Should You Spend So Much on a Pillow?
You might be surprised by some of the price tags on these pillows. I remember spending bottom dollar on my pillows for years. But those bottom-dollar pillows needed to be frequently replaced and didn’t provide the long-term support (or even all-night support) my neck needed.
Higher-quality pillows cost more but will use better materials, last longer, and come with trial periods and warranties so that you can test out the pillow of your choice and get a guarantee it’ll last. Plus, while most of these aren’t cheap, it’s still an affordable investment when you break down how many hours you’ll be lying on them.
How Should You Care for Your Pillow?
The best way to wash your pillow is going to depend on the pillow you have. You can choose to hand wash, spot clean, or machine wash pillows, though you’ll want to check the label and make sure it’s safe to machine wash it. If it’s not, spot or hand cleaning is your best option.
The easiest pillows to clean are ones that come with removable covers, because you can remove said cover and wash it with other sheets and bedding. Not all pillow fill should be washed, so that’s important to check before throwing an entire pillow into your washing machine. Our top five picks all have removable covers for easy washing, though for some (like the Honeydew Scrumptious) you’ll have to manually remove the filling and store it in a bag, while others like the Purple have a separated cover and fill section.
How Does WIRED Choose Pillows to Review?
We research all pillows we test to make sure we test a variety of styles, fills, and shapes to find which are the most supportive over a night’s sleep. We test both expensive and affordably priced models to see how the quality stacks up, and usually look to test new designs and options to see what’s coming next (and every other category we test for). We also check out reviews and customer feedback when available to see if it’s worth testing to compare against pillows we know we already like.
How Does WIRED Test Pillows?
Every pillow in this guide is slept on for a minimum of three nights, with our top picks getting at least a week if not closer to a month of sleep testing from either myself, other staffers, or long-term testers. I also hosted a testing panel in March 2025 with six participants and 22 different models. The panelists all had different sleep styles ranging from classic side and back sleepers to chaotic sleepers who end up underneath their pillows every night, and the panel judged which options they found most comfortable and would be most likely to buy for their sleep needs.
How Does WIRED Acquire Pillows? What Happens to the Review Units After Testing?
Most of our pillows are provided by the company for us to review, sometimes by that company reaching out to offer its newest model for us to consider, or more frequently, us reaching out and asking to test it after researching that specific style or fill type. We also purchase some pillows for ourselves and will write about them.
After we test pillows, they’re either placed with a long-term tester if the model is a pick, or they’re donated.
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![This former notorious red-light district is now one of the world’s top AI hubs | TechCrunch
What every U.K. AI startup wants to know these days is, how can I get office space in King’s Cross?
The area is so hot that a VC firm allegedly recently won a deal by promising a founder office space in the neighborhood. “We stop at nothing to win deals [for] and to support” founders, “including helping them source office space when needed,” the firm told me when asked about the rumor, declining to confirm or deny any details.
The neighborhood’s popularity began back in 2016 when DeepMind — then newly acquired by Google — moved in. Soon after, a flood of AI startups followed, wanting to be around the Google DeepMind magic. Today, they hope to take advantage of the cluster of AI talent there.
This has transformed King’s Cross into one of the world’s top AI hubs, rivaled only by San Francisco and Beijing. Around London, it’s known by the sobriquet “Knowledge Quarter,” as it’s home to names like OpenAI, Meta, Isomorphic Labs, Cusp AI, Wayne, Recursive, and, a little farther down the road, Synthesia and Anthropic. The European Technology Network (ETN) just moved into a glossy new office nearby, while University College London sits around the corner.
Mixed in with the new developments are trendy food spots like Hoppers and BAO. Hop a train from King’s Cross, and founders can be in Cambridge in 45 minutes to source talent or can be in Paris in two hours to strike a deal.
Who would have guessed that a little more than 20 years ago, this was one of the seediest areas in London?
“In the ’80s, crack and heroin made the area a major narcotics market,” Hussein Kanji, an investor at Hoxton Ventures, said, recalling syringes in tree trunks and gangs patrolling the streets. “In 1982, the local church was occupied by the English Collective of Prostitutes for 12 straight days.” Then, in the early 2000s, a real estate developer had a dream and, well, “now it is the AI hotbed of the United Kingdom,” Kanji said. “What a change.” Around 18 months ago, his portfolio company BioCorteX moved from the neighborhood Holborn to the Jellicoe building in King’s Cross, hoping to be near the action. “Lots going on in London right now,” Nik Sharma, co-founder of BioCorteX, told me. “Lots of hyperscalers moving in.” That includes, reportedly, Jeff Bezos’ AI company Prometheus, which is also said to be in talks to move into the Jellicoe.
There are around 3,600 AI startups in London, which, together, have raised around .1 billion out of the .8 billion raised in the city since late July, according to Dealroom. Since the start of June, AI-related startups have leased more than 1 million square feet of office space in London, according to the real estate firm Knight Frank. With that, prime rents in King’s Cross have risen 18% over the past three years, Chris Dunn, a commercial insight associate at the firm, told me. That percentage represents only the largest leases encompassing at least 10,000 square feet, like the ones OpenAI and Prometheus are signing. The shorter deals go for even more, he said, and now the vacancy rate for conventional office space is just 0.9%. “Demand has outstripped supply,” he continued.
Today, one of the big topics of the area is sovereignty. It was a wake-up call for many when Anthropic shut off access to Mythos and Fable this summer, leaving some in the ecosystem to conclude: “We’d better look after ourselves,” Saul Klein, co-founder of the VC firm Phoenix Court, told me.
Phoenix Court is located in the King’s Cross area and has three portfolio companies in the vicinity, including Olix (which just announced a .3 billion valuation), Early Health and CoMind. Robin Klein, co-founder of the firm, said the shutdown of Fable and Mythos access was a “small but sharp reminder that Europe can’t simply rent its AI capabilities and capacity; it needs to build and hold some of its own.” King’s Cross, he said, is where much of this building is actually happening.
“The bigger question,” he continued, “is whether the U.K. builds the infrastructure, compute, energy, capital, to make this self-reliance durable, rather than just hosting outposts of U.S. labs.”
Image Credits:Phoenix Court
Top founders want to stay
Simon Kohl, founder of Latent Labs, has offices in King’s Cross and San Francisco. The London office, at the moment, is growing faster, and he’s more bullish than ever on the ecosystem, he said. “The mood right now feels less like London trying to catch up and more like London becoming one of the default places to start a serious AI company,” he said. Look around and you are likely to see Wayve testing its autonomous cars. Founded in 2017 by co-founder Alex Kendall, the unicorn is one of London’s biggest success stories.
“Ten years ago, building a frontier AI company from London felt like an unusual choice,” Kendall told me. “Now it feels like an obvious one.” Wayve moved into King’s Cross in 2018 looking for a space that could double as a garage — “a rare combination in Central London,” Kendall said. He has watched the ecosystem mature around him — and it’s now evident that a startup can stay in London, raise serious capital, hire world-class AI talent, and remain globally competitive, he said. Down the street from Anthropic’s new 158,000-square-foot office is the AI agent builder Sierra and the AI video platform Synthesia.
Laura Gonzalez Florez, Synthesia’s chief of staff and head of people, says the company moved into its glossy new office building a year ago to accommodate its growing team. They were drawn to the area for the same reason as everyone else: “It’s very close to the airport … very close to where a lot of investors are,” she said.
Image Credits:Synthesia
Around two-thirds of Synthesia’s engineers are remote, Gonzalez Florez said, letting the company tap into an affordable, international, and diverse talent pool and helping it scale faster. “From London, we can hire and work, without any problem, people from anywhere, from Slovenia to Portugal,” she said.
Unsurprisingly, London’s AI boom is also causing a talent war.U.K. AI job postings have skyrocketed in the past few years, per data from PwC. When Anthropic announced it moved into town earlier this year, it listed, for example, a salary range of £260,000 to £630,000 for a machine learning research engineer when the average salary in London for the same role is around £102,000. Some founders in the U.K., like those in Silicon Valley, are being forced to raise more and bigger rounds to keep up.
“The real test is whether more globally significant AI companies are founded, funded, and scaled from the U.K., while continuing to attract the world’s best talent to build them here,” Zain Ali, founder of the King’s Cross-based AI legal firm Centuro, told me. “If that continues to happen, King’s Cross won’t just be an AI hub. It’ll become one of the U.K.’s most important strategic assets.”
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.#Thisformernotorious #redlight #districtis #nowone #worlds #top #hubs #TechCrunchUK](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DM9A2852.jpg?w=680 "This former notorious red-light district is now one of the world’s top AI hubs | TechCrunch
What every U.K. AI startup wants to know these days is, how can I get office space in King’s Cross?
The area is so hot that a VC firm allegedly recently won a deal by promising a founder office space in the neighborhood. “We stop at nothing to win deals [for] and to support” founders, “including helping them source office space when needed,” the firm told me when asked about the rumor, declining to confirm or deny any details.
The neighborhood’s popularity began back in 2016 when DeepMind — then newly acquired by Google — moved in. Soon after, a flood of AI startups followed, wanting to be around the Google DeepMind magic. Today, they hope to take advantage of the cluster of AI talent there.
This has transformed King’s Cross into one of the world’s top AI hubs, rivaled only by San Francisco and Beijing. Around London, it’s known by the sobriquet “Knowledge Quarter,” as it’s home to names like OpenAI, Meta, Isomorphic Labs, Cusp AI, Wayne, Recursive, and, a little farther down the road, Synthesia and Anthropic. The European Technology Network (ETN) just moved into a glossy new office nearby, while University College London sits around the corner.
Mixed in with the new developments are trendy food spots like Hoppers and BAO. Hop a train from King’s Cross, and founders can be in Cambridge in 45 minutes to source talent or can be in Paris in two hours to strike a deal.
Who would have guessed that a little more than 20 years ago, this was one of the seediest areas in London?
“In the ’80s, crack and heroin made the area a major narcotics market,” Hussein Kanji, an investor at Hoxton Ventures, said, recalling syringes in tree trunks and gangs patrolling the streets. “In 1982, the local church was occupied by the English Collective of Prostitutes for 12 straight days.” Then, in the early 2000s, a real estate developer had a dream and, well, “now it is the AI hotbed of the United Kingdom,” Kanji said. “What a change.” Around 18 months ago, his portfolio company BioCorteX moved from the neighborhood Holborn to the Jellicoe building in King’s Cross, hoping to be near the action. “Lots going on in London right now,” Nik Sharma, co-founder of BioCorteX, told me. “Lots of hyperscalers moving in.” That includes, reportedly, Jeff Bezos’ AI company Prometheus, which is also said to be in talks to move into the Jellicoe.
There are around 3,600 AI startups in London, which, together, have raised around .1 billion out of the .8 billion raised in the city since late July, according to Dealroom. Since the start of June, AI-related startups have leased more than 1 million square feet of office space in London, according to the real estate firm Knight Frank. With that, prime rents in King’s Cross have risen 18% over the past three years, Chris Dunn, a commercial insight associate at the firm, told me. That percentage represents only the largest leases encompassing at least 10,000 square feet, like the ones OpenAI and Prometheus are signing. The shorter deals go for even more, he said, and now the vacancy rate for conventional office space is just 0.9%. “Demand has outstripped supply,” he continued.
Today, one of the big topics of the area is sovereignty. It was a wake-up call for many when Anthropic shut off access to Mythos and Fable this summer, leaving some in the ecosystem to conclude: “We’d better look after ourselves,” Saul Klein, co-founder of the VC firm Phoenix Court, told me.
Phoenix Court is located in the King’s Cross area and has three portfolio companies in the vicinity, including Olix (which just announced a .3 billion valuation), Early Health and CoMind. Robin Klein, co-founder of the firm, said the shutdown of Fable and Mythos access was a “small but sharp reminder that Europe can’t simply rent its AI capabilities and capacity; it needs to build and hold some of its own.” King’s Cross, he said, is where much of this building is actually happening.
“The bigger question,” he continued, “is whether the U.K. builds the infrastructure, compute, energy, capital, to make this self-reliance durable, rather than just hosting outposts of U.S. labs.”
Image Credits:Phoenix Court
Top founders want to stay
Simon Kohl, founder of Latent Labs, has offices in King’s Cross and San Francisco. The London office, at the moment, is growing faster, and he’s more bullish than ever on the ecosystem, he said. “The mood right now feels less like London trying to catch up and more like London becoming one of the default places to start a serious AI company,” he said. Look around and you are likely to see Wayve testing its autonomous cars. Founded in 2017 by co-founder Alex Kendall, the unicorn is one of London’s biggest success stories.
“Ten years ago, building a frontier AI company from London felt like an unusual choice,” Kendall told me. “Now it feels like an obvious one.” Wayve moved into King’s Cross in 2018 looking for a space that could double as a garage — “a rare combination in Central London,” Kendall said. He has watched the ecosystem mature around him — and it’s now evident that a startup can stay in London, raise serious capital, hire world-class AI talent, and remain globally competitive, he said. Down the street from Anthropic’s new 158,000-square-foot office is the AI agent builder Sierra and the AI video platform Synthesia.
Laura Gonzalez Florez, Synthesia’s chief of staff and head of people, says the company moved into its glossy new office building a year ago to accommodate its growing team. They were drawn to the area for the same reason as everyone else: “It’s very close to the airport … very close to where a lot of investors are,” she said.
Image Credits:Synthesia
Around two-thirds of Synthesia’s engineers are remote, Gonzalez Florez said, letting the company tap into an affordable, international, and diverse talent pool and helping it scale faster. “From London, we can hire and work, without any problem, people from anywhere, from Slovenia to Portugal,” she said.
Unsurprisingly, London’s AI boom is also causing a talent war.U.K. AI job postings have skyrocketed in the past few years, per data from PwC. When Anthropic announced it moved into town earlier this year, it listed, for example, a salary range of £260,000 to £630,000 for a machine learning research engineer when the average salary in London for the same role is around £102,000. Some founders in the U.K., like those in Silicon Valley, are being forced to raise more and bigger rounds to keep up.
“The real test is whether more globally significant AI companies are founded, funded, and scaled from the U.K., while continuing to attract the world’s best talent to build them here,” Zain Ali, founder of the King’s Cross-based AI legal firm Centuro, told me. “If that continues to happen, King’s Cross won’t just be an AI hub. It’ll become one of the U.K.’s most important strategic assets.”
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.#Thisformernotorious #redlight #districtis #nowone #worlds #top #hubs #TechCrunchUK")
![This former notorious red-light district is now one of the world’s top AI hubs | TechCrunch
What every U.K. AI startup wants to know these days is, how can I get office space in King’s Cross?
The area is so hot that a VC firm allegedly recently won a deal by promising a founder office space in the neighborhood. “We stop at nothing to win deals [for] and to support” founders, “including helping them source office space when needed,” the firm told me when asked about the rumor, declining to confirm or deny any details.
The neighborhood’s popularity began back in 2016 when DeepMind — then newly acquired by Google — moved in. Soon after, a flood of AI startups followed, wanting to be around the Google DeepMind magic. Today, they hope to take advantage of the cluster of AI talent there.
This has transformed King’s Cross into one of the world’s top AI hubs, rivaled only by San Francisco and Beijing. Around London, it’s known by the sobriquet “Knowledge Quarter,” as it’s home to names like OpenAI, Meta, Isomorphic Labs, Cusp AI, Wayne, Recursive, and, a little farther down the road, Synthesia and Anthropic. The European Technology Network (ETN) just moved into a glossy new office nearby, while University College London sits around the corner.
Mixed in with the new developments are trendy food spots like Hoppers and BAO. Hop a train from King’s Cross, and founders can be in Cambridge in 45 minutes to source talent or can be in Paris in two hours to strike a deal.
Who would have guessed that a little more than 20 years ago, this was one of the seediest areas in London?
“In the ’80s, crack and heroin made the area a major narcotics market,” Hussein Kanji, an investor at Hoxton Ventures, said, recalling syringes in tree trunks and gangs patrolling the streets. “In 1982, the local church was occupied by the English Collective of Prostitutes for 12 straight days.” Then, in the early 2000s, a real estate developer had a dream and, well, “now it is the AI hotbed of the United Kingdom,” Kanji said. “What a change.” Around 18 months ago, his portfolio company BioCorteX moved from the neighborhood Holborn to the Jellicoe building in King’s Cross, hoping to be near the action. “Lots going on in London right now,” Nik Sharma, co-founder of BioCorteX, told me. “Lots of hyperscalers moving in.” That includes, reportedly, Jeff Bezos’ AI company Prometheus, which is also said to be in talks to move into the Jellicoe.
There are around 3,600 AI startups in London, which, together, have raised around .1 billion out of the .8 billion raised in the city since late July, according to Dealroom. Since the start of June, AI-related startups have leased more than 1 million square feet of office space in London, according to the real estate firm Knight Frank. With that, prime rents in King’s Cross have risen 18% over the past three years, Chris Dunn, a commercial insight associate at the firm, told me. That percentage represents only the largest leases encompassing at least 10,000 square feet, like the ones OpenAI and Prometheus are signing. The shorter deals go for even more, he said, and now the vacancy rate for conventional office space is just 0.9%. “Demand has outstripped supply,” he continued.
Today, one of the big topics of the area is sovereignty. It was a wake-up call for many when Anthropic shut off access to Mythos and Fable this summer, leaving some in the ecosystem to conclude: “We’d better look after ourselves,” Saul Klein, co-founder of the VC firm Phoenix Court, told me.
Phoenix Court is located in the King’s Cross area and has three portfolio companies in the vicinity, including Olix (which just announced a .3 billion valuation), Early Health and CoMind. Robin Klein, co-founder of the firm, said the shutdown of Fable and Mythos access was a “small but sharp reminder that Europe can’t simply rent its AI capabilities and capacity; it needs to build and hold some of its own.” King’s Cross, he said, is where much of this building is actually happening.
“The bigger question,” he continued, “is whether the U.K. builds the infrastructure, compute, energy, capital, to make this self-reliance durable, rather than just hosting outposts of U.S. labs.”
Image Credits:Phoenix Court
Top founders want to stay
Simon Kohl, founder of Latent Labs, has offices in King’s Cross and San Francisco. The London office, at the moment, is growing faster, and he’s more bullish than ever on the ecosystem, he said. “The mood right now feels less like London trying to catch up and more like London becoming one of the default places to start a serious AI company,” he said. Look around and you are likely to see Wayve testing its autonomous cars. Founded in 2017 by co-founder Alex Kendall, the unicorn is one of London’s biggest success stories.
“Ten years ago, building a frontier AI company from London felt like an unusual choice,” Kendall told me. “Now it feels like an obvious one.” Wayve moved into King’s Cross in 2018 looking for a space that could double as a garage — “a rare combination in Central London,” Kendall said. He has watched the ecosystem mature around him — and it’s now evident that a startup can stay in London, raise serious capital, hire world-class AI talent, and remain globally competitive, he said. Down the street from Anthropic’s new 158,000-square-foot office is the AI agent builder Sierra and the AI video platform Synthesia.
Laura Gonzalez Florez, Synthesia’s chief of staff and head of people, says the company moved into its glossy new office building a year ago to accommodate its growing team. They were drawn to the area for the same reason as everyone else: “It’s very close to the airport … very close to where a lot of investors are,” she said.
Image Credits:Synthesia
Around two-thirds of Synthesia’s engineers are remote, Gonzalez Florez said, letting the company tap into an affordable, international, and diverse talent pool and helping it scale faster. “From London, we can hire and work, without any problem, people from anywhere, from Slovenia to Portugal,” she said.
Unsurprisingly, London’s AI boom is also causing a talent war.U.K. AI job postings have skyrocketed in the past few years, per data from PwC. When Anthropic announced it moved into town earlier this year, it listed, for example, a salary range of £260,000 to £630,000 for a machine learning research engineer when the average salary in London for the same role is around £102,000. Some founders in the U.K., like those in Silicon Valley, are being forced to raise more and bigger rounds to keep up.
“The real test is whether more globally significant AI companies are founded, funded, and scaled from the U.K., while continuing to attract the world’s best talent to build them here,” Zain Ali, founder of the King’s Cross-based AI legal firm Centuro, told me. “If that continues to happen, King’s Cross won’t just be an AI hub. It’ll become one of the U.K.’s most important strategic assets.”
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.#Thisformernotorious #redlight #districtis #nowone #worlds #top #hubs #TechCrunchUK](https://i0.wp.com/techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DM9A2852.jpg?w=680&ssl=1 "This former notorious red-light district is now one of the world’s top AI hubs | TechCrunch
What every U.K. AI startup wants to know these days is, how can I get office space in King’s Cross?
The area is so hot that a VC firm allegedly recently won a deal by promising a founder office space in the neighborhood. “We stop at nothing to win deals [for] and to support” founders, “including helping them source office space when needed,” the firm told me when asked about the rumor, declining to confirm or deny any details.
The neighborhood’s popularity began back in 2016 when DeepMind — then newly acquired by Google — moved in. Soon after, a flood of AI startups followed, wanting to be around the Google DeepMind magic. Today, they hope to take advantage of the cluster of AI talent there.
This has transformed King’s Cross into one of the world’s top AI hubs, rivaled only by San Francisco and Beijing. Around London, it’s known by the sobriquet “Knowledge Quarter,” as it’s home to names like OpenAI, Meta, Isomorphic Labs, Cusp AI, Wayne, Recursive, and, a little farther down the road, Synthesia and Anthropic. The European Technology Network (ETN) just moved into a glossy new office nearby, while University College London sits around the corner.
Mixed in with the new developments are trendy food spots like Hoppers and BAO. Hop a train from King’s Cross, and founders can be in Cambridge in 45 minutes to source talent or can be in Paris in two hours to strike a deal.
Who would have guessed that a little more than 20 years ago, this was one of the seediest areas in London?
“In the ’80s, crack and heroin made the area a major narcotics market,” Hussein Kanji, an investor at Hoxton Ventures, said, recalling syringes in tree trunks and gangs patrolling the streets. “In 1982, the local church was occupied by the English Collective of Prostitutes for 12 straight days.” Then, in the early 2000s, a real estate developer had a dream and, well, “now it is the AI hotbed of the United Kingdom,” Kanji said. “What a change.” Around 18 months ago, his portfolio company BioCorteX moved from the neighborhood Holborn to the Jellicoe building in King’s Cross, hoping to be near the action. “Lots going on in London right now,” Nik Sharma, co-founder of BioCorteX, told me. “Lots of hyperscalers moving in.” That includes, reportedly, Jeff Bezos’ AI company Prometheus, which is also said to be in talks to move into the Jellicoe.
There are around 3,600 AI startups in London, which, together, have raised around .1 billion out of the .8 billion raised in the city since late July, according to Dealroom. Since the start of June, AI-related startups have leased more than 1 million square feet of office space in London, according to the real estate firm Knight Frank. With that, prime rents in King’s Cross have risen 18% over the past three years, Chris Dunn, a commercial insight associate at the firm, told me. That percentage represents only the largest leases encompassing at least 10,000 square feet, like the ones OpenAI and Prometheus are signing. The shorter deals go for even more, he said, and now the vacancy rate for conventional office space is just 0.9%. “Demand has outstripped supply,” he continued.
Today, one of the big topics of the area is sovereignty. It was a wake-up call for many when Anthropic shut off access to Mythos and Fable this summer, leaving some in the ecosystem to conclude: “We’d better look after ourselves,” Saul Klein, co-founder of the VC firm Phoenix Court, told me.
Phoenix Court is located in the King’s Cross area and has three portfolio companies in the vicinity, including Olix (which just announced a .3 billion valuation), Early Health and CoMind. Robin Klein, co-founder of the firm, said the shutdown of Fable and Mythos access was a “small but sharp reminder that Europe can’t simply rent its AI capabilities and capacity; it needs to build and hold some of its own.” King’s Cross, he said, is where much of this building is actually happening.
“The bigger question,” he continued, “is whether the U.K. builds the infrastructure, compute, energy, capital, to make this self-reliance durable, rather than just hosting outposts of U.S. labs.”
Image Credits:Phoenix Court
Top founders want to stay
Simon Kohl, founder of Latent Labs, has offices in King’s Cross and San Francisco. The London office, at the moment, is growing faster, and he’s more bullish than ever on the ecosystem, he said. “The mood right now feels less like London trying to catch up and more like London becoming one of the default places to start a serious AI company,” he said. Look around and you are likely to see Wayve testing its autonomous cars. Founded in 2017 by co-founder Alex Kendall, the unicorn is one of London’s biggest success stories.
“Ten years ago, building a frontier AI company from London felt like an unusual choice,” Kendall told me. “Now it feels like an obvious one.” Wayve moved into King’s Cross in 2018 looking for a space that could double as a garage — “a rare combination in Central London,” Kendall said. He has watched the ecosystem mature around him — and it’s now evident that a startup can stay in London, raise serious capital, hire world-class AI talent, and remain globally competitive, he said. Down the street from Anthropic’s new 158,000-square-foot office is the AI agent builder Sierra and the AI video platform Synthesia.
Laura Gonzalez Florez, Synthesia’s chief of staff and head of people, says the company moved into its glossy new office building a year ago to accommodate its growing team. They were drawn to the area for the same reason as everyone else: “It’s very close to the airport … very close to where a lot of investors are,” she said.
Image Credits:Synthesia
Around two-thirds of Synthesia’s engineers are remote, Gonzalez Florez said, letting the company tap into an affordable, international, and diverse talent pool and helping it scale faster. “From London, we can hire and work, without any problem, people from anywhere, from Slovenia to Portugal,” she said.
Unsurprisingly, London’s AI boom is also causing a talent war.U.K. AI job postings have skyrocketed in the past few years, per data from PwC. When Anthropic announced it moved into town earlier this year, it listed, for example, a salary range of £260,000 to £630,000 for a machine learning research engineer when the average salary in London for the same role is around £102,000. Some founders in the U.K., like those in Silicon Valley, are being forced to raise more and bigger rounds to keep up.
“The real test is whether more globally significant AI companies are founded, funded, and scaled from the U.K., while continuing to attract the world’s best talent to build them here,” Zain Ali, founder of the King’s Cross-based AI legal firm Centuro, told me. “If that continues to happen, King’s Cross won’t just be an AI hub. It’ll become one of the U.K.’s most important strategic assets.”
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.#Thisformernotorious #redlight #districtis #nowone #worlds #top #hubs #TechCrunchUK")
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