Building tech in the world's secret R&D hub

Zurich has created a technology ecosystem nearing the density of Silicon Valley. Few places outside Silicon Valley can claim R&D hubs from all of these companies. Fewer still are concentrated in a city of just over 400,000 people--roughly half the size of San Francisco. Over the past two decades, however, many of the world's most influential technology companies have established R&D operations in and around Zurich, Switzerland. What began with Google's decision to build its largest R&D hub outside the United States has evolved into one of the world's most concentrated centers for AI research, talent, and commercialization, in certain areas at a higher density than Silicon Valley. The question is why so many technology leaders keep choosing the same place to build and scale.