xAI in Bellevue: Why Musk is challenging OpenAI in Seattle?

xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, has just reached a major strategic milestone: it is setting up in Bellevue, Washington State, with a lease for 2,300 sq m at Lincoln Square South, in the heart of the prestigious Bellevue Collection complex.

These premises, recently vacated by Epic Games (the studio behind Fortnite), mark xAI’s official arrival in the American Northwest, right in OpenAI’s territory, which already largely dominates the region.

I have been closely following Elon Musk’s strategic moves around his companies, and this expansion seems to me to reveal an AI war that is changing scale. In this article, I will decipher this geographical choice, analyze the timing of this establishment, and ask the necessary questions about xAI’s true ambitions against its competitors.

xAI sets up shop in the American Northwest tech epicenter

Lease details filtered through Broderick Group, the real estate agency managing the complex, in January 2026. xAI now occupies 24,800 square feet (approximately 2,300 sq m) in Lincoln Square South, a modern building in the Bellevue Collection.

Bellevue is not an insignificant choice. It’s the beating heart of tech in the Northwest, just a few kilometers from Seattle, with a mature ecosystem that has attracted giants like Microsoft (based in Redmond, 20 minutes away) and Amazon for years.

The geographical advantages are numerous: immediate proximity to the region’s cloud and AI ecosystem, access to an exceptional pool of tech talent, and a significant detail on the tax front: Washington does not apply income tax, a strong argument for attracting six-figure profiles.

Local infrastructure also plays a key role: high-performance data centers, ultra-fast fiber connections, and above all, access to abundant and inexpensive hydroelectric power, a crucial factor for the training operations of electricity-hungry AI models.

Aggressive recruitment launched last September

What’s revealing is that this setup is far from improvised. xAI began posting job offers for Bellevue last September, four months before the official lease announcement.

The advertised salary ranges fluctuate between $180,000 and $440,000 annually, placing xAI at the top of the AI market. These amounts correspond to the standards practiced by OpenAI, Anthropic, or the AI teams of Microsoft and Amazon in the region.

The sought-after profiles include ML engineers, AI researchers, and infrastructure specialists. These salaries place xAI on par with OpenAI or Anthropic. Musk is playing on an equal footing in the talent market, and it shows.

The strategy of recruiting before publicly announcing the establishment reveals a desire to move discreetly, without prematurely attracting the attention of the media or competitors. A silent but effective approach.

Bellevue, new ring in the artificial intelligence battle

OpenAI already dominates the field with 28,000 sq m

For context, OpenAI occupies nearly 300,000 square feet in the Seattle-Bellevue area, or approximately 28,000 sq m. In comparison, xAI arrives with 2,300 sq m, which is 12 times less space.

On paper, xAI seems to be playing the underdog. But knowing Musk, I’m wary of appearances. Starlink also started small, and today the network has tens of thousands of satellites.

OpenAI has had an established presence for several years, with close ties to Microsoft, which is headquartered in Redmond. This proximity facilitates technical collaborations and access to Azure infrastructure.

A booming AI ecosystem

xAI and OpenAI are not alone. Crusoe, a specialist in AI-optimized data centers, and CoreWeave, a GPU cloud provider, also have offices in Bellevue.

Bellevue is thus becoming a secondary but strategic AI hub, offering lower real estate costs than San Francisco, a higher quality of life, and an abundant talent pool trained by local universities and tech giants established for decades.

The Musk galaxy consolidates: SpaceX, xAI, and Starlink under one roof

A $250 billion acquisition that changes everything

SpaceX acquired xAI last week for a valuation of $250 billion, a historic deal that completely redefines the Musk ecosystem.

This merger propels SpaceX to a new valuation of $1.25 trillion, with an IPO planned this year. My analysis: this merger creates a unique AI-space empire. Starlink data could feed xAI models, and conversely, AI capabilities could optimize the management of the satellite constellation.

Tesla had already invested $2 billion in xAI, illustrating the growing interconnection between Musk’s various companies. But this acquisition raises questions: what real-world range for xAI after integration? Will there be a dilution of the initial vision?

2,000 Starlink employees already on site

SpaceX already has approximately 2,000 Starlink employees in the Seattle-Bellevue area, focused on the development and management of the satellite constellation.

The obvious synergies are apparent: sharing infrastructure, talent, potential pooling of certain offices. My hypothesis: xAI could share certain services with the Starlink teams, thereby reducing operational costs and accelerating deployment.

Musk’s teams are used to working in an “integrated startup” mode, with a corporate culture that fosters cross-functional collaboration and rapid execution.

xAI’s strategic silence raises questions

Surprisingly: no official communication from xAI about this establishment. No tweet from Elon Musk, no press release, nothing.

The contrast is striking with OpenAI, which communicates massively about its expansions, or Anthropic, which announces every new office. Other Musk companies (Tesla, SpaceX) often communicate, but not always at the right time.

Is this a deliberate strategy to advance under the radar? Or a sign that xAI is not yet ready to make noise? Several hypotheses:

• Desire to recruit discreetly without attracting competitors’ attention to targeted profiles
• Focus on execution rather than communication, in the Musk style that prioritizes results over announcements
• Or simply a lack of organizational maturity at xAI, which remains a relatively young startup

xAI is therefore setting up in Bellevue with its 2,300 sq m, recruiting massively with competitive salaries, and gradually integrating into the local SpaceX ecosystem. For me, this move confirms that the AI battle is now being fought on several geographical fronts, not just in Silicon Valley.

The question remains open: will Bellevue become a true xAI hub or remain a simple satellite office? The SpaceX IPO planned this year could provide valuable clues about the real ambitions. In a context where recent developments in the sector are observed, I will closely follow the coming months with analytical curiosity.