Google Names Its London HQ “Platform 37”

Google has unveiled the official name of its striking new London headquarters as “Platform 37,” a choice that’s both literal and symbolic. The name nods to the building’s neighbour, King’s Cross railway station’s platforms, and a pivotal moment in AI lore known as “Move 37” — an unconventional play made by Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo that helped redefine artificial intelligence nearly a decade ago.

The story behind the name captures two threads of meaning. First, it places the building geographically beside one of London’s busiest rail hubs. Second, it honors the moment when an AI system surprised human experts with a creative, non‑intuitive strategy in the ancient board game Go — a breakthrough widely seen as the start of the modern era of AI. DeepMind’s CEO, Demis Hassabis, described it as a fitting tribute to that leap in machine intelligence.

The headquarters itself is more than a name — it’s a statement. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick and Bjarke Ingels, the 330‑metre “landscraper” stretches alongside the rail lines, longer than London’s iconic Shard is tall, and will eventually house around 4,000 workers from Google and its AI research arm, DeepMind. It’s also Google’s first fully owned and designed building outside the U.S.

Inside Platform 37, Google plans to open “The AI Exchange”, a public space dedicated to educating people about artificial intelligence later this year — part of a broader push to make AI more accessible and understandable to the community.

In a sense, Platform 37 isn’t just a building name. It’s a symbol of where AI has been and where it’s going: rooted in history, informed by creative breakthroughs, and set to be a hub for future innovation right in the heart of London.