NEW YORK - It accounts for more than 200,000 jobs and has colonised entire neighbourhoods.
In New York, the tech industry is driving local economic growth like never before -- but it is also widening the gulf between the haves and have-nots.
Every indicator shows that the tech footprint has "grown enormously" in the Big Apple, says Julie Samuels, president of Tech:NYC, who also points to the arrival of major employers in the sector.
The most visible among them is Salesforce, with its branded tower near Times Square. But the epicentre of New York tech lies elsewhere.
Once known as "Silicon Alley" -- a nod to California's Silicon Valley -- and centred around Broadway and 23rd Street, the hub has expanded to cover a vast area known as Midtown South that stretches from Chelsea to SoHo and includes the Meatpacking District.
At the heart of this network sits Google, which occupies no fewer than six buildings spanning several hundred thousand square meters.
Like Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon, the Alphabet subsidiary has opted for charming old buildings rather than a gleaming tower.
Despite a recent softening of the tech job market, companies have leveraged the jobs crunch to enforce a return to the office.
Last year, new leases were signed for more than 700,000 square meters of office space in Midtown South -- a record, according to Peter Johnson of commercial real estate firm Avison Young. "Everything suggests this will continue, or at least hold at those levels," he says.
The demand is so strong that a growing number of companies are now venturing further south in Manhattan or even across the river to Brooklyn, among them Etsy and Kickstarter.
In Manhattan, amid majestic but modestly scaled historic buildings and far from the chaos and skyscrapers of the Midtown business district, "this is where companies want to establish their long-term headquarters," Johnson says.
What's more, while startups long had to look to California for funding, dozens of private equity firms are now based in New York.
Beyond a desirable work environment, "the young, dynamic people that tech companies are trying to hire" are already here, Samuels adds.
This workforce can appreciate New York's charms all the more because the average hourly wage in tech is significantly higher than in any other sector -- including finance.
But that is yet another source of pressure on the housing market, with median rents in Manhattan climbing 40 percent over the past decade to about $4,500 per month.
"We need to find a way to allow people who grew up here to stay here," acknowledges Samuels, "while also allowing people who want to come here to start a business or launch their career to do so. And that's not easy."