View / What startups look like in the AI era - Semafor

While interviewing the CEO of Aseon Labs for my show Future Proof, I got the feeling I was witnessing a new kind of startup — one that leverages the commoditization of robotics and advances in AI to do more with less.

With a team of just 10 people and $10 million in funding, Aseon is doing something that, not long ago, would have taken years and a massive team to attempt: They are building parking space-sized pods equipped with robot arms that can clean and charge autonomous vehicles.

I was the first person outside the company to see the its “robotic pit stop” for autonomous vehicles. They had just spent the weekend pulling all-nighters to weld it together and troubleshoot its function. The engineers wrote their names using Sharpies on the places where robotic arms made dents in the vehicles.

My favorite part was when I noticed that one of Aseon’s engineers (someone with real technical chops) programming the robot with a ChatGPT prompt. Why use programming languages like ROSS and C++ when AI can do that for you?

CEO George Kalligeros said the team doesn’t like to admit how much AI they use, but he later bragged to me about the company’s six-figure-a-month token spend. Innovation may require fewer people with AI, but it still needs moxie.