Welcome to the Propagator, your monthly AI-focused newsletter at the forefront of technology in the real estate industry. We don't just keep up with the trends; we think ahead.

Thinking ahead, the question we want to pose in the first newsletter is whether real estate is truly a people-centric business, or if the fusion of generative AI and humanoids could redefine the industry?

Our topic for today: AI meets Robotics

• 💰 Insights into the latest VC-fundings related to robotics

• 🤖 Deployment of AI with humanoid robots in workplaces and homes

• 🛠️ Creative use cases for AI robotics in our industry

• 🔮 Future Foresight

• ✏️ Prompt of the Month

Figure AI  | 675 Millionen USD | US | Series B :
Developing general-purpose humanoids for workplaces and homes

Sanctruary AI | 30 Millionen USD | Canada | Post Series A :
Developing general-purpose robots with human-like intelligence

Daedalus | 21 Millionen USD | Germany | Series A :
AI-powered factories, automating the entire production process

Cognigy | 44 Millionen USD | Germany | Series B :
Global leader in Conversational AI to support customer service automation

Robotics get alive through AI!

• Elon Musk announces Tesla will start using humanoids in its factories next year. Further, he is planning to offer them to other companies by 2026.

• University of Tokyo researchers have created a robotic face with living skin that can express human-like emotions, including smiling. This technology enhances robot realism and emotional expressiveness, aiming to improve human-robot interactions by making robots more lifelike and approachable.

• The Technical University of Munich (TUM) has established the "Robotics Institute Germany" to advance research and development in robotics. This new institute aims to become a leading center for robotics, fostering innovation and collaboration among experts in the field.

This is revolutionizing real estate

The introduction of humanoid robots is revolutionizing the real estate industry by increasing efficiency, safety and cost-effectiveness. These robots perform construction, maintenance and inspection tasks, integrate seamlessly into existing workflows and enable the construction and operation of properties even in remote areas.

Here are key areas where we think humanoid robots will have a significant impact:

Construction: Humanoid robots, with their advanced reasoning capabilities and human-like body shapes, can function alongside regular construction workers. They are adept at using existing tools and can navigate construction sites designed for human workers.

These robots integrate smoothly into current construction workflows, enhancing productivity and reducing the need for manual labor. This is particularly beneficial in an industry facing a significant labor shortage.

Maintenance & Inspection: The startup N Robotics is transforming real estate maintenance. Their user-friendly robotic systems efficiently perform regular maintenance tasks and can access hard-to-reach areas, ensuring consistent property upkeep.

N Robotics' technology generates precise point cloud data for accurate 3D building models. This aids in property management, renovation planning, and structural integrity checks, leading to significant time and cost savings while enhancing accuracy and safety in the real estate sector.

Location: One can find it scary that humanoids have a human-like shape (and potentially even skin). But this is a major advantage: our world is built around us – Stairs, doors, sholves, brooms, … Having the shape of a human, we do not need to provide them with new tools or have to adjust our world - it’s easy to integrate them.

Buildings will therefore remain as they are, at least in terms of appearance. However, the real estate industry is not only affected by the above mentioned use cases. Humanoids will have a significant impact on where factories and logistics centres can be built as they reduce the need for human labour, allowing development in even more remote locations.

Humanoid robots have been in development for decades

Previous limitations: In the past humanoid robots were limited to pre-programmed tasks, such as navigating set courses, requiring extensive pre-training.

Revolution through AI: In 2024, AI integration allows humanoid robots to adapt to new environments with human-like vision and reasoning, reducing the need for extensive pre-training. Imagine it like, sending a picture to ChatGPT and letting it describe it - this gives vision to robots.

Generative AI has shifted the focus of humanoid robotics startups from a vertical to a horizontal approach. Previously, startups developed specialized AI models for specific problems. Now, with genAI, they create broadly intelligent systems capable of learning multiple tasks and controlling various mechanisms (general purpose).

Impact: These AI-powered robots are becoming increasingly sophisticated, paving the way for seamless integration into daily life, enhancing safety, and boosting efficiency across various applications.

Current Generation Humanoids: 

• Optimus Gen-2 by Tesla

• Phoenix by Sanctuary AI

• Atlas by Boston Dynamics

• Eureka project by Nvidia

• Figure 01 by Figure

So, can AI-powered humanoid robots really change the real estate game?

Not yet, but probably sooner than expected. These robots are set to revolutionize construction, maintenance, and many other tasks, though they are currently tested in less diverse environments like factories. However, this is already impacting location selection for future factory and logistics developments. As technology advances, we can expect faster, more efficient robots to seamlessly integrate into more complex workflows, redefining real estate possibilities.

Refers to the analyze of images of technical building parts e.g. circuit diagrams and electricity meters:

This prompt guides the AI in understanding the image context and specifies the information to extract and how to present it.

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Thank you for joining our inaugural issue of Propagator. Stay tuned as we continue to explore the technologies shaping the future of real estate.

See you next time!

Nino, Cosima & Jan
Your Propagator - Team