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Ex-Palantir execs launch Dream with $17M from a16z to build AI world models for construction
Dream is grounded in real physics and construction standards. Just as LLMs learn from text, Dream's world model is trained on more than 100 million square feet of building data gathered from permit archives across the United States.
Andy Elder and Arjun Mathur were Stanford roommates who both studied computer science before spending a decade at Palantir. Elder led product design for a team of 800 people building software for U.S. defense and intelligence agencies, while Mathur served as a senior vice president in the company’s commercial practice. When the friends decided to build a startup early last year, there was no question they would do it together.
Despite having no direct background in architecture, Elder and Mathur were troubled by a growing problem: Fewer buildings are constructed in the U.S. today than a few decades ago , as development costs have surged.
“We’ve gone from dial-up internet to superintelligent AI, but our ability to build the physical world around us has actually decreased,” Mathur told TechCrunch.
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