Had lunch today with Salar at @BuildMonumental HQ in Amsterdam. I've followed the brick-and-mortar nerds since the very beginning and right now they are TAKING OFF. Demand is off the charts. They just opened up a huge extra workspace in Amsterdam Noord. They are on a path to become one of the prime movers in the robot-first economy. The primary question is how fast Monumental can scale to meet demand. A still very underrated aspect of construction becoming software defined is how this will change aesthetics! Just like new technologies such as bricks and concrete changed architecture I think robot-first construction could usher in a renaissance in beautiful buildings after ~70 years of stagnation. Something for @patrickc to chew on...

INTRODUCING HARDLIST V2 🇪🇺 I spent hundreds of hours researching European startups that work on the frontiers of energy, mining, compute, AI, defense, transport, robotics, agriculture, biotechnology, health, construction and space. Together with @rickbossenbroek I turned this into a website we modestly refer to as "the definite index of ambitious hardware startups". I really believe that the 75+ startups on the list are building a new industrial layer that secures European prosperity and relevance in the world. My goal with HARDLIST is pointing the right talent to the hardest problems that are being tackled by the most ambitious founders. I've come to believe that the ultimate rate limiting factor to a great European future is the amount of "all-or-nothing" founders we can cultivate at home or attract from abroad. People like @torstenreil or @helenehuby or @salar move aggressively to build vertically integrated companies from first principles. That's it. If we can grow the number of these founders, we win. If we don't, we lose. It is not regulation, bureaucracy, lack of venture capital. No my friends, these are NOT the fundamental constraint for European progress and prosperity. We are only limited by formidable founders. In fact, Europe is an underrated place to build. Think about it: thriving universities & scientific output, a huge industrial base and a massive pool of talented engineers that (still) request modest salaries. And Europe is the nicest place to live on earth.

People keep asking "won't AGI solve all this in 2 years." This morning's friction log: "central controller is fully covered in snail's slime."

Started at an @AnthropicAI Hackathon in February. Today, Matrix OS (@joinmatrixos) is live, giving a computer for your AI agents so they don't die when you close your laptop. But for me, the story started much earlier. When I was six, I could barely read, but I would spend hours clicking through Windows XP just trying to understand what a computer could do. I think I’ve been obsessed with that question ever since. Over the past 3.5 years, I’ve built intensively with AI. I kept seeing the same pattern: the models were getting incredibly capable, but the computer around them was still designed for a human sitting in front of a screen, clicking around and typing. I joined forces with @NimaNaderi2004, we kept building, and today we’re opening signups, shipping Matrix and our desktop app, and announcing our first angel round, backed by @alexwikstrom, @bakkermichiel, @salar, @Founder_Ash, @mattiasmiksche, @fbjork, @sidk_, and @engineerrprompt among others. Since we are backed by the best, we brought @xyhstruggler , @Elibethmarch and @valeriewistrom to help build and achieve one mission. Our mission is to give everyone a Personal Cloud Computer 💚 PS: We’re also hiring engineers in Stockholm and around the world. If rethinking what a computer can be; sounds like your kind of problem, come build with us!

I'm officially joining @BuildMonumental 🧱 to help build brick laying robots. This was a big decision for me. Why? 1. Two months ago I was seriously exploring starting a company with a friend and cofounder. We decided to part ways. 2. This will be my first time working a job overseas (outside of Australia). 3. Transitioning from biotech to robotics. Monumental impressed me because: 1. They have actually built a fleet of robots. 2. They have built 100+ projects (i.e. homes, schools, canals) using their robots. 3. Strong in person culture (+ one of the coolest offices I've ever seen). 4. Strong coupling of hardware + software. 5. Strong emphasis on aesthetic physical design. Keen to trade notes with other robotic deployment companies, who are scaling fast! #robotics

Immediate reactions to Amsterdam: 1. Baseline level of design both across physical infrastructure and people’s style has got to be top 5 in the world. 2. There has to be some unicorn waiting to be built (already being built) that combines AI x cycling. Maybe wearable glasses or an actual bike. Seems like a huge hardware opportunity. 3. Baseline English is phenomenal. People are highly educated. 4. Can see Europe as leaders on consumer facing tech. Cities feel so multicultural and cross sectional demographics wise. 5. Feels very safe. 6. Essentially entire economy is cashless. 7. One of the most aesthetically pleasing cities I’ve ever been too. Huge amount of nature and brickwork is stunning. 8. Everyone looks very healthy. Must be combination of outdoor and bike riding culture.

SF robotics startup w/ $100 billion in funding: website with pic of hand impossible to buy, maybe in 2040 3,500 employees SF robotics startup w/ $10k in funding: show basically the whole thing including source code BUY NOW button, less than $2k 3 chuds in a trench coat

I love speed and there is no team that's more impressive than Etched right now, so inspiring. The fastest company to ship production AI chips from scratch Congrats @robertwachen and @UbertiGavin!

Dutch robotics startup Monumental has raised a $32 million Series B led by Khosla Ventures to scale a fleet of autonomous, electric robots that already lay real brick on job sites across Europe. Founded in 2021 by Salar al Khafaji (CEO) and Sebastiaan Visser (CTO) — co-founders of data-visualization firm Silk, acquired by Palantir in 2016 — Monumental runs more than 100 robots that use sensors, computer vision and small cranes to lay brick and mortar to millimeter precision, all driven by its AI platform, Atrium. Its machines have built the walls of over 100 homes across the Netherlands and the UK, plus a school, a community center, a hotel and stretches of canal wall. #Monumental #ConstructionRobots #Bricklaying

Amsterdam-based construction robotics company Monumental raised a $32 million Series B led by Khosla Ventures, Fortune learned exclusively. bit.ly/4psZ9bz

one of my most optimistic AI predictions is that it will allow us to build beautifully again. the reason so much old architecture was beautiful is that construction was organized around craftsmanship, and people expected buildings to be beautiful. stone, wood, and brick already had to be shaped and placed by hand, so the workers, tools, and supply chains capable of adding detail were built into the process. then the 20th century changed the economics. cities needed huge amounts of housing fast, skilled labor became expensive, and construction shifted toward standardized plans and mass-produced parts. every unique arch, window, or facade became an expensive exception requiring custom drawings, parts, specialists, and time. so the cheapest building became a simple box that was easy to repeat. i mean just look at any modern skyline. it’s the same ugly glass skyscraper repeated from city to city, with very little detail, local character, or differentiation. which explains why historic neighborhoods are still among the most sought-after parts of so many cities. isn’t that backwards? if the future is better, shouldn’t the newest neighborhoods be the ones everyone dreams of living in?? i think AI and robotics will finally reverse the economics. > AI will make beautiful buildings cheap to design and engineer. > robotics will make them cheap to physically build. and the cost difference between a plain box and a detailed facade will collapse. (the bricklaying robots below are an early version of this) you've already seen the digital version of this. building a beautiful website used to require expensive designers and developers. now one person can vibe one in an hour with AI. the same will happen with buildings. people just need to care about beauty again.

Btw some people seem to think this is still just about pick and place. Not true! Our robots can pick up tools that do insane precision work to finish the job. Go look at how we bend and insert those wall ties!

Monumental is cooking. One of the most exciting companies I've gotten to be a part of. (And one of the most impressive founders.) Brick by brick.

Monumental now has a fleet of more than 150 robots building on real construction sites across Europe. Its systems have completed walls for more than 100 homes across over 40 projects, with nearly half of those homes delivered in the past three months alone; up from eight in the preceding quarter. The company operates as the masonry subcontractor, bringing its own robotic fleet to site and charging customers for the finished wall. Monumental has now raised a $32 million Series B led by Khosla Ventures to expand across Europe, deepen its UK operations and prepare for deployment in the US. That follows a $25 million round co led by Plural and Hummingbird in 2024, bringing disclosed funding to at least $57 million. At the time of that earlier round, Monumental had four teams of three robots in operation. Its fleet has since grown from 12 robots to more than 150; more than 12 times larger. Bricklaying robots have existed as demonstrations for years but Monumental is starting to scale it. Video via @BuildMonumental materials.

Excited to be part of this project to make construction cheaper, better...

One of my hopes is that we can get the cost of housing construction down to the cost of materials, and the cost of materials down to energy+robot labour. Underrated is that this will be incredible for the beauty of the buildings our civilisation can make