OpenAI signed a new lease on a 202,000-square-foot waterfront site near the Richmond ferry terminal in its first East Bay expansion, and it’s believed the company will be opening a robotics facility there.The East Bay is the latest location where OpenAI has bought up a large swath of land, which s pans 15.75 acres of Richmond’s waterfront near the ferry terminal. The San Francisco Business Times reports that the building will likely house the company’s robotics manufacturing. The 202-000 square-foot building, located at the Portside Commerce Center, was previously leased and developed for Moxion Power, a battery startup that went out of business in 2024 before it could occupy the space, according to the Chronicle. While OpenAI has not confirmed its plans for the building, the Times cites an unnamed source along with county records. The space is reportedly ideal for high-power uses such as advanced manufacturing and robotics, as it offers excessive power capabilities of over 14,000 amps — well above the typical 200 to 4,000 amps in traditional industrial buildings.As the Business Insider reported in January, OpenAI is also building a humanoid robotics lab in San Francisco. In December, employees were reportedly notified of its plans to open the second facility in Richmond, and the company has since posted job listings connected to the building.In San Francisco, OpenAI now occupies one million square feet of land in Mission Bay, as the Chronicle reported earlier this month. The company is also reportedly expanding to Silicon Valley, as it recently finalized a lease for a 450,000-square-foot site in Mountain View.Image: Portside Commerce Center ...read more read less