Apple is dropping $1B+ for a building in North Carolina

Today, Apple employs 95k people in America.

But by 2026, the iPhone maker has promised to add 20k more jobs on US soil, per The Wall Street Journal.

At least 3k of those jobs will be in Raleigh, North Carolina — and to accommodate its new employees, Apple is dropping $1B+ to build its first East Coast campus.

The new office will focus on software and AI talent

North Carolina is home to the Research Triangle Park, a region that includes 3 top-tier (you guessed it) research universities:

• North Carolina State University (Raleigh)
• Duke University (Durham)
• University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill)

The $2T tech giant joins other notables names in the area, including IBM, Red Hat Software, Cisco Systems, and Epic Games (the maker of Fortnite who is suing Apple for its App Store policies), according to the WSJ.

While Apple’s HQ remains in California…

… anchored by its $5B spaceship-shaped Apple Park, the company has been planting its flag around the country.

Apple’s satellite offices place it in a prime position to poach talent in many industries, per Above Avalon:

• Seattle (Amazon)
• San Diego (chipmaker Qualcomm)
• Culver City (Hollywood talent)
• Pittsburgh (autonomous systems)
• New York (media and publishing)
• Boston (robotics)

A new Apple office looks great for the local economy, but competition should be quaking.