US AI infrastructure startup Modal Labs is opening a London office in the Marble Arch area, marking the latest North American AI firm to invest in the capital. The New York–headquartered company provides computing infrastructure for AI workloads, focusing on AI inference rather than training. Founded in 2021, the office can hold up to 40 workers, and Modal plans to have all its London staff in place by early September, sources say. Modal joins North American AI firms OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Cohere in recently announcing new London offices or expansions. In May, Modal raised $355m in a new round of financing, valuing the company at $4.65bn, in a round led by Redpoint Ventures and General Catalyst, up from its $1.1bn valuation eight months before. Modal also has offices in New York, San Francisco, and Sweden and employs around 170 people. It was co-founded by CEO Erik Bernhardsson, who previously ran the tech team at mortgage tech firm Better.com and spent six years at Spotify, where he was central to building its music recommendation engine. The other co-founder is CTO Akshat Bubna, formerly an engineer at Scale AI. Bernhardsson said: "Modal has been transatlantic since day one: New York, San Francisco, Stockholm. We’re doubling down with our new London office as part of our commitment to helping European companies achieve scale.”