AI moves into engineering software, excavators drive themselves

Nemetschek put an AI layer into Allplan, SCIA, FRILO, Archicad and Bluebeam, including connectors for outside AI assistants. Bedrock Robotics raised $600M for self-driving excavators, and a Swedish start-up was selected for EU money to make cement from industrial residues in Latvia. In Switzerland, the new Sisikon tunnel is blasted with a nitrate-free explosive so its rock can go into Lake Uri. Our focus: the basic idea of circular construction.

• Nemetschek, the Munich group behind Allplan, Archicad and Bluebeam, adds an AI layer to its design and engineering software (Nemetschek Group press release)
• Bedrock Robotics, a 2024 start-up from former self-driving car engineers, raises $600M for autonomous excavators (TechCrunch)
• Canton Schwyz blasts the new Sisikon tunnel with a nitrate-free explosive, a first for a large Swiss road tunnel (Baublatt (German))
• Swedish start-up Cemvision selected for up to €27.5M in EU money to make cement from industrial residues in Latvia (LIAA release via LV portāls (Latvian))
• Construction tech funding of the week: AI that drafts CAD from 3D scans, a humanoid robot backed by Japan's Shimizu (Bricks & Bytes)