Former SpaceX engineers are building a robotic factory for making steel parts

Three former SpaceX engineers have launched a manufacturing startup aimed at automating steel production for data centers and other infrastructure. Per Ars Technica, their company, 1872, officially opened its first factory in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July twenty-second, focusing initially on fabricating steel skids—rectangular frames that serve as foundations for modular buildings. The team plans to deploy AI-driven robots and software to handle most of the manufacturing process by twenty twenty-seven, with a particular eye on supplying customers building AI data centers or small modular nuclear reactors. CEO Dan Summers tells Ars that while they're pursuing automation, they're targeting about eighty percent autonomous operations rather than aiming for full autonomy, noting there are diminishing returns beyond that point.

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