Google Unveils ‘Platform 37’ London HQ, Honoring Historic AI Victory

Google has christened its new London headquarters 'Platform 37,' paying tribute to both the nearby King's Cross railway station and a famous AI breakthrough from nearly a decade ago. The tech giant's teams will start occupying the massive building this summer.

LONDON, March 12 – The tech giant Google has revealed the official name for its massive new London headquarters, calling it ‘Platform 37’ as a tribute to both the adjacent King’s Cross railway terminal and a historic artificial intelligence milestone from nearly ten years ago.

The name references ‘Move 37,’ a crucial decision made by Google’s DeepMind AI system called AlphaGo during its famous competition against Go world champion Lee Sae Dol, according to company officials.

Google and Google DeepMind staff will start relocating to Platform 37 during the summer months, the company announced.

Demis Hassabis, who co-founded and leads Google DeepMind, explained in a Thursday blog post that Move 37 was so unusual that human Go experts initially believed the AI had made an error. ‘Move 37,’ played by AlphaGo almost 10 years ago to the day, was so unconventional human experts initially thought it was a mistake,’ Hassabis wrote.

However, the strategic move ultimately proved brilliant as AlphaGo secured victory in the match.

‘AlphaGo’s victory heralded the beginning of what is now recognised as the modern era in AI,’ Hassabis stated.

The innovative structure, created by architects Thomas Heatherwick and Bjarke Ingels, extends 330 meters alongside the railway lines connecting to King’s Cross station. The horizontal design, nicknamed a ‘landscraper,’ actually exceeds the height of London’s famous Shard tower, which stands at 310 meters.

This marks Google’s first completely owned and designed facility outside American borders, though the project has experienced a lengthy development process since its initial announcement in 2013, including construction and interior finishing setbacks.

The company plans to launch ‘The AI Exchange’ within the building before year’s end, creating a public space where visitors can explore and understand artificial intelligence technology.