AI is starting to leave a very visible mark on office demand—and not in subtle ways. Tech companies, especially those tied to artificial intelligence, are taking larger spaces, moving more decisively into top-tier buildings and concentrating their footprints in a shrinking number of core markets.
That shift is showing up clearly in the numbers. According to a new report from Newmark, the 100 largest office leases signed by U.S. tech occupiers in the 12 months ending in Q1 2026 totaled 16.5 million square feet across just 14 markets. A year ago, those same top deals were spread across 21 markets. At the same time, the average lease size jumped 33 percent to 165,000 square feet—growth Newmark attributes largely to AI and related firms scaling up.
Geographically, the story is one of increasing concentration. The San Francisco Bay Area continues to dominate, accounting for 53 of the 100 largest leases across San Francisco, the Peninsula and Silicon Valley. Leasing activity in Silicon Valley alone more than tripled year-over-year. The region's edge is reinforced by capital: Newmark notes that 78 percent of all U.S. venture capital investment in AI during the quarter flowed into the Bay Area.
New York City was a distant second with 20 of the top leases, supported by a mix of AI firms, cloud platforms and fintech companies. Boston followed with 11 deals tied to aerospace, robotics and defense tech. Dallas-Fort Worth, Northern Virginia, Seattle, Los Angeles and Austin also ranked among the top markets, but well behind the leaders.
What stands out just as much as where deals are happening is who is driving them. A relatively small group of companies is accounting for an outsized share of activity. The top 10 tenants alone made up 43 percent of all leased square footage. Many of them are newer entrants scaling at a pace the office sector hasn't seen in years.
Anthropic is a good example: launched in 2021 with less than 25,000 square feet, it now occupies more than 900,000 square feet and is still actively searching for long-term space in New York and Seattle. Newmark cites this trajectory as evidence that AI firms can quickly become mega-tenants.
That growth is translating into a leasing mix heavily skewed toward expansion. Of the top 100 deals, 42 percent were expansions, 36 percent were renewals and the remaining 20 percent were relocations. In fact, expansions were a factor in 78 percent of all transactions, and 49 of those were tied directly to AI or adjacent firms. As Newmark puts it, AI is no longer just a demand driver—it is a "structural force shaping office demand."
Even with that aggressive growth, these tenants are not locking themselves into rigid footprints. Flexibility remains a key negotiating point, with many seeking expansion and contraction rights, along with access to swing space within buildings, so they can adjust as quickly as they scale.
At the same time, there is very little compromise on quality. The report finds that 83 percent of top tech tenants are choosing high-end buildings—68 percent in Class A and another 15 percent in Trophy assets. Only 17 percent opted for Class B space. Among companies that relocated, nearly half upgraded building quality, reinforcing the widening gap between top-tier assets and the rest of the market.
That preference is starting to tighten conditions at the top. With new construction slowing and rents already climbing in premium buildings, some occupiers are moving early to secure space that can accommodate future growth. Newmark warns that this is already reducing tenant leverage and pushing up pricing for well-located, high-quality offices.
Location decisions, meanwhile, still come down to talent. About 60 percent of leases were in central business districts, compared to 40 percent in suburban locations. Companies also tend to remain in the same general area over time, suggesting that access to an existing workforce—and the commuting patterns that accompany it—continues to anchor decision-making.
Lease terms are stretching out as well. New leases averaged 120 months, while renewals averaged 101 months. Those longer commitments are helping tenants secure larger tenant improvement packages, which are becoming more valuable as construction costs rise.
At bottom, the message from Newmark is fairly straightforward: the competition for high-quality space in top talent markets is intensifying and waiting is becoming more expensive. For landlords and investors with exposure to those assets, that dynamic is starting to work firmly in their favor.
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