**Rilla** CEO Sebastian Jimenez says the AI startup pays eligible employees up to **$1,500 a month** to live near its New York office, or about **$18,000 a year**, according to Business Insider and earlier workplace coverage. The benefit is tied to an in-person, high-intensity culture, with Business Insider describing an office strategy built around reducing commute friction and preserving focused work time. For AI teams, the practical lesson is narrower than the headline: proximity perks can shorten feedback loops for sales-analytics products and live customer workflows, but they also make retention, burnout, compensation fairness and local housing dependency part of the operating model.