Where serious AI work is being made — and how the centre of gravity has rotated from venture capital toward power, permits, and places that take long horizons seriously.
Three places have moved up the list this year. Two have come from off it entirely. One has quietly become the second-largest home for serious AI work outside the United States — and it is not the city you would have guessed in 2024.
The new question is not where the talent gathers. It is where the talent is allowed to stay long enough to build something.
Twelve forces, thirty-eight places, one quietly considered ranking — recalibrated quarterly. Where opportunity is widening, where serious work is being made welcome, and what we're watching next.
A generation of operators, founders and families is rethinking where to put the next ten years. The conversation is not what it sounds like.