Tech:NYC Digest: November 1

Tech:NYC Digest: November 1

November 01, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Happy November! Mariah Carey is defrosting as we speak. 👀🎄

  • In today’s digest, the surge in AI salaries, the tech companies still expanding their office footprints, and the fall activities to anticipate in the city this month.

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  • A flurry of new leases from tech firms in the past week alone demonstrates just how much the sector is doubling down on New York. Among them:

    • Shopify took 36,000 square feet of new office space in a building that also counts Google and CLEAR as tenants, and global VC firm Iconiq Capital signed for 70,000 square feet on Park Avenue South.

    • LinkedIn is also expanding its HQ at the Empire State Building to occupy more than 500,000 square feet (and Starbucks’ corporate HQ is also moving in). (Commercial Observer)

    • AI startup EliseAI is expanding its footprint by another 6,000 square feet in Midtown East. (Commercial Observer)

  • Should a park replace a sunken stretch of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway? It’s a proposal that New York’s Dept. of Transportation is considering. (Gothamist)

    • Part of the BQE stretching from Dumbo to Greenpoint sunken below sea level and has been identified by the department as an area to build over. DOT renderings show a highway “capped” with greenspace between Borinquen Place and Division Avenue, connecting the adjacent streets above.

  • How is it already November? Once you’ve recovered from your Halloween candy sugar crashes, there are plenty of activities in the city to check out this month – the iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, of course, but also free yoga at Chelsea Market and the last few weeks of the Jay-Z exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. Here’s your full guide.

In other reading:

  • These neighborhoods could benefits most from Mayor Eric Adams’ housing plan (Crain’s New York)

  • Walling Up the East Side to Save It (Curbed)

  • Where to Eat in New York in November (Grub Street)

We’re already anticipating the end-of-year headlines describing 2023 as the “year of AI.” The launch of ChatGPT kicked off mainstream obsession across industries of all kinds, as well as governments from the local level to the White House. 

  • With AI adoption only growing, so is the race for engineers who can build as quickly as the technology evolves.

The average AI engineer salary for US tech companies is $188,000, a report from Comprehensive.io shows. (Axios)

  • The report from the compensation management tool found AI engineering pays about 20% more than non-AI software engineer jobs, which pay $155,000 on average. In the past three months, the number of active AI job openings grew 22%.

AI gives the job market a boost: Those on the job hunt have noticed the upward trend and have begun adding AI keywords to their profiles and resumes to make them a more compelling candidate – and LinkedIn is helping. 

  • LinkedIn announced today its rolling out AI tools for its premium members, allowing users to chat with a bot about open opportunities and skills needed for specific jobs. The new tools were revealed the same day the platform surpassed one billion members.

In other reading:

  • A lawyer’s guide to using AI in HR (Fast Company)

  • You’re emailing wrong at work. Follow this etiquette guide (Washington Post)

  • The surprisingly subtle ways Microsoft Word has changed how we use language (BBC)

  • Covera Health, a NYC-based patient care analytics startup focused on reducing medical errors, raised $50 million in Series C extension funding. It also acquired CoRead, an AI-powered medical error improvement provider. Insight Partners led the round. 

  • November 6: In-person: Entrepreneurs Roundtable #183, with Work-Bench co-founder and general partner Jonathan Lehr. Hosted by ERA. Register here.  

  • November 7: In-person: AWS Startups Women’s Demo Day, with Calibrate CEO Isabelle Kenyon, AWS North America Startups Business Development Leaders Kathryn Van Nuys, Gilly CEO Laraib Khan, and others. Register here.

  • November 14 – 15: In-person: 2023 Urban Tech Summit, with NYC chief climate officer Rit Aggarwala, Kelvin CEO Marshall Cox, Brooklyn Navy Yard CEO Lindsay Greene, Near Space Labs CEO Rema Matevosyan, and others. Hosted by Cornell Tech. Register here.

  • November 15: Virtual: State of Fundraising Briefing, with AlleyCorp general partner Marshall Porter, Stellation Capital managing partner Peter Boyce II, Carta head head VC and accelerator business development Ryan O’Conor, and Tech:NYC president Julie Samuels. Hosted by Tech:NYC. Register here. 

  • December 8: In-person: Nonprofit TechCon, with BetaNYC executive director Noel Hidalgo, Queens Deputy Borough President Ebony Young, and others. Hosted by City & State. Use code TECH23 for 50% off tickets here.

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