Last Week in ConTech - 11 August 2025
Deep Insight: Why Autodesk Released New AI Restrictions for Their Platform
Deep Insight: Why Autodesk Released New AI Restrictions for Their Platform
This week on Linkedin, it was revealed that Autodesk had updated their Terms of Service to restrict AI usage.
As Nathan Miller noted, point 8 in their Acceptable Use Policy states:
You will agree you will not…Use any Offering or related Output in connection with the training of any machine learning or artificial intelligence algorithm, software, or system
And then point 12 states:
You will agree you will not…Collect content or information, from or with an Offering, using automated means (such as any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application, or other device to retrieve, index, “scrape,” or “data mine”)
He goes on to note that if we were to take a broad view of this restriction it could technically mean the following actions are prohibited:
Exporting of Revit room data (or any object data) to Excel.
Exporting DWG vector data to database geometry fields.
No data lakes or warehouses with Autodesk assets or data.
It’s interesting as Autodesk providers users and developers with API access for these actions to be executed but as Angel Say noted in the comments:
This update to TOS to me reads as a legal defense against openAI completely eating Autodesk's lunch in a generative model trained on BIM/CAD from Autodesk product output. But it comes at the expense of customers doing novel, important work with their own data.
This appears to be the likely rationale, Autodesk wants to prevent startups from using its APIs to build MCP servers (explained below), which could turn them into database backends while startups own the customer interface.
For context, the Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard created by Anthropic, which standardizes how an AI can request, receive and act on information across multiple platforms without the need for custom, one-off integrations.
For example, if Autodesk had an MCP server, you could chat with your project data in Revit and trigger AI-driven workflows on it without exporting files or manually moving data (or manually logging into the platform). If every construction software platform had MCP servers, you could work with all your tools in one place, running AI tasks across them without complex data transfers.
Naturally construction AI startups recognize the opportunity in becoming the connector (setting up MCP servers) between each construction software system. Instead of logging into Procore or Autodesk, you could log into an AI tool that is connected to all of them.
Startups would do this by setting up MCP servers that connect to software via APIs, enabling AI to access and work with the data in a structured format.
Autodesk’s updated TOS gives them the legal means to block this and only provide access to selec. The aim is likely less about stopping individual customers and instead to reduce the risk of becoming commodity infrastructure just providing data access.
If you are curious to learn more about how an MCP server could be created on top of Autodesk’s data and what value this provides, check out this blog: Talk to Your BIM: Exploring the AEC Data Model with MCP Server + Claude
In this issue there are:
7 Startup Fundings
9 Policy and Regulatory Changes
3 Earnings Announcements
12 New National Infrastructure Projects & Priorities
0 New investment funds
2 Acquisitions
8 News articles
9 new jobs posted - view here
Reading time: 15 mins
Does the email get cut off by your reading application? You can view the full version online here.
Startup Funding
Home Services
Pearl Edison, a Detroit startup, raised $3.3m in Seed funding. They are a home electrification startup which manages the design and installation process of heating and cooling systems end to end, providing homeowners with fixed price quotes, using software to develop a value engineered system design and connecting them with a vetted, qualified contractor to complete the install. More here.
Notes:
A challenge with contractors targeting the residential sector is customer acquisition costs.
To reduce this, Pearl Edison is partnering with utilities to acquire their customers directly.
They do so by building a white labelled website and helping the utilities run marketing campaigns to sign people up for energy efficiency projects.
This allows them to leverage the brand trust and equity of the existing established player.
Once they have acquired the customer, they act as a GC using software for quotation and initial design.
They also have a vetted contractor network complete the installation and are likely following ‘The Cloud Installer Model’ where over time through standardization and consistent work they move from using subcontractors to having labour inhouse.
Interestingly, Pearl Edison makes money on the installs, estimating that the majority of those jobs will cost less than its fixed price quote.
Building Decarbonization
Bisly, an Estonian startup, raised €4.3m in funding. They develop smart building systems (software and hardware) which track building energy consumption data to allow owners to optimize and improve energy use. More here.
Notes:
Around 40% of all energy consumed in the EU is from buildings.
85% of these buildings were built prior to 2000 and 75% have poor energy performance.
The EU, as per the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, has a goal of fully decarbonising their building stock by 2050 and has set clear renovation targets on existing poor performing buildings.
Construction Management
Powerplay, an Indian startup, raised ~$2m in funding. They are building a construction management platform assisting with tasks such as material management, labour management, progress tracking and budgeting. More here.
Green Materials
Carbelim, an Indian startup, raised Pre-Seed funding (undisclosed). They develop algae power systems integrated into building materials such as facades which convert carbon emissions into oxygen and sustainable plant based products like biomass. More here.
Education
Protrainy, an Indian startup, raised funding (undisclosed). They are building an educational platform aimed at upskilling engineers across sectors such as construction, manufacturing, architecture and renewables offering a mix of cohort based learning, on demand video and project driven modules. More here.
Robotics
FORT Robotics, a Pennsylvania startup, raised $18.9m in Series B funding. They have developed a robotics control platform empowering industries such as construction with safe and secure control and communication with autonomous machines through software and hardware such as wireless e-stop’s to instantly stop machines via remote, wired remote control and vehicle safety controllers for wireless communication. More here.
Business Management
D-Tools, a Californian startup, raised $12m in Series C funding. They have developed an end to end business management software for electronic systems contractors who design and install low voltage electronic systems in buildings or infrastructure. More here.
Note: Last week Testfit was incorrectly included as raising funding. The funding announcement linked was completed in 2022.
Policy and Regulatory Changes
US
New law demands California High-Speed Rail show the money
AB 377 requires the California High-Speed Rail Authority to produce a comprehensive and legally binding funding framework.
It will outline how the project will be completed, what it will cost and how the funding will be secured.
If the agency fails to stick to its plan, it could trigger legal consequences that could bring the project to a halt.
Notes:
The High Speed Rail Authority has been under scrutiny after Trump pulled $4b in funding for the project.
Infrastructure projects are notorious for going over budget and I’ll be curious to see what the outline now estimates the costs to be and how accurate this ends up being.
If it does work, this may become a requirement on other projects.
Interior Order Chokes Off Permits for Solar and Wind on Federal Lands
The new secretarial order directs Interior Department agencies that are reviewing green energy projects to add another factor to their scales: project density.
They said they may no longer issue any permits to a solar or wind project on federal lands unless the agency believes it will generate as much energy per acre as a coal, gas or nuclear power plant.
This could kill off any solar or wind project going through permitting that is sited on federal lands.
This is as the facilities would technically be less energy dense than coal, gas, and nuclear plants.
EPA cancels $7 billion Biden-era grant program to boost solar energy
The Environmental Protection Agency terminated a $7 billion grant program.
This was intended to help pay for residential solar projects for more than 900,000 lower-income U.S. households.
California halts building code updates in a blow to electrification
At the end of June, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed into law AB 130, a sweeping bill that aims to make it easier to build housing.
The law pauses updates to state and local building codes for the next 6 years.
The state’s building standards are normally revised once every three years.
Building codes can be used to promote decarbonization and the latest statewide energy code encourages developers to build all-electric homes with both heat pumps and heat-pump water heaters.
Additionally from Oct. 1 this year, the new law will also prevent local jurisdictions from updating their own, more ambitious building standards, known as reach codes.
NASA Acting Chief Duffy Issues Directive to Speed Up Moon Reactor Plans
NASA’s acting administrator Sean Duffy plans to accelerate the construction of a nuclear reactor that could be used on the moon.
NASA previously awarded contracts to commercial companies to come up with designs for small nuclear fission reactors.
Duffy’s directive instructs NASA to put a call out to industry to create a more powerful reactor, with the goal of having technology ready for launch as early as 2030.
Oak Park banned natural gas in new buildings, but a legal fight is underway
Oak Park is the first municipality in the Midwest to pass an electrification ordinance.
It passed the measure in June 2023, and it took effect Jan. 1, 2024.
The ordinance amended the village’s building code to require new construction to be fully electric.
They are now embroiled in a legal fight as trade and real estate groups joined to file a federal complaint in April against Oak Park over the natural gas ban.
Notes:
Berkeley in California enacted the first ban on natural gas hookups in new construction in 2019.
The city was sued in 2021 and began repealing the ordinance after a court decision.
The court found that the Berkeley ban was preempted by the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act.
It was because Berkeley ban’s limit on the use of certain appliances conflicted with the federal law’s ability to set standards for natural gas usage.
In contrast, New York City banned fossil fuels in 2023 for some new buildings.
Although it was sued, a federal court upheld the ban because it does not directly regulate energy use.
Municipalities seeking to reduce carbon emissions must be mindful as to how they implement their policies to win the subsequent lawsuits.
For startups in the home decarbonization sector, reviewing policy wording and legal precedents can help gauge the likelihood of successful implementation and determine whether to enter a particular market.
UK
Construction industry must act ahead of new building safety levy
The new levy will apply to all new residential developments that require building control approval from October 2026.
The levy, for which developers will be liable, is intended to help fund remediation works to existing residential buildings where safety defects have been identified.
The charges are intended to also encourage developers to prioritise safety from the outset of the building process before construction begins.
The government confirmed the levy will be charged at the point at which an application is submitted for building regulations approval and for developers payment of the levy hinges on whether the development can be classified as a "major residential development" in planning terms.
Germany
Germany to legalise underground CO2 storage in climate drive
The German Government approved draft legislation that would legalize the underground storage of carbon dioxide (C02).
The plans include the development of a national CO2 transport network to facilitate carbon capture and storage (CCS).
The legislation would allow CO2 to be captured at industrial sites, transported via pipelines, and stored underground.
The focus was on sectors where emissions were currently unavoidable, such as cement, lime and aluminium production.
The bill must still be passed by lawmakers in parliament.
New Zealand
Health and safety reform: Sector-specific updates signal targeted regulatory relief
The Government aims to, following consultation with the construction sector, introduce a risk-based hierarchy of controls for working at height.
This is to help businesses select appropriate safety measures based on the specific hazards of each task.
It is hoped this approach will reduce unnecessary use of scaffolding, particularly in low-risk situations.
Earnings Announcements
This week a number of construction companies released their earnings announcements. Here is a summary from a couple of the biggest companies.
Turner Construction (2025 First Half Results)
Contractor
Turner’s revenue rose by 44% from the same period last year, totaling $13.4 billion.
Leading sectors include data centers, healthcare, commercial, and education.
Turner’s project backlog increased 21% year-over-year and has surpassed $39 billion.
This includes: $12.6 billion in data centers, $6.6 billion in healthcare, $4.1 billion in education, and $3.5 billion in sports and entertainment.
Their workforce now exceeds 14,000 people.
Jacobs (Fiscal Third Quarter 2025 Results)
Design Consultant
Gross Revenue grew to $3.03b, up 5.1% y/y.
Jacob’s backlog is $22.69 billion, up 14.3% y/y.
Revenue was driven by both Infrastructure & Advanced Facilities (I&AF) and PA Consulting.
Within I&AF, growth was led by the Life Sciences, Data Center, Energy & Power, Water and Transportation sectors.
Notes:
In the earnings call the CEO highlighted a new partnership with Nvidia to create digital twins for artificial intelligence data centers.
The move could serve as a global design reference for the chipmaker’s customers.
Additionally, according to an analyst note, Jacobs has exited its energy, chemical and resource business, which tended to be more cyclical and less profitable.
They’ve increased focus on infrastructure, transportation, advanced manufacturing, and technical building projects.
CRH (Q2 2025)
Building Material Supplier
Revenue of $10.2bn, up 5.7% y/y.
They invested $1.0bn in 19 acquisitions YTD.
A $2.1bn acquisition of Eco Material Technologies has also been agreed.
The intent is to put CRH at the forefront of the transition to next generation cement and concrete and secure the long-term supply of high-value critical materials for future growth.
Breaking their business down:
Americas Materials Solutions' total revenues were 2% ahead of Q2 2024, driven by positive pricing and contributions from acquisitions, which offset weather-related activity challenges.
Americas Building Solutions' total revenues were 2% ahead of Q2 2024, supported by contributions from acquisitions and demand in water infrastructure and data centers.
International Solutions' total revenues were 13% ahead of Q2 2024, driven by strong contributions from acquisitions and sustained pricing momentum.
Notes:
I was surprised to learn how much weather impacts their revenue.
If you’re interested in having a more holistic view of construction firm’s earnings data, respond to this email. I’ve been considering doing a specific deep dive into this, consolidating key points and trends across the industry.
National Infrastructure Projects & Priorities
Global
What’s new with national renewable targets?
Nearly two years after the COP28 agreement to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, most countries have yet to reflect this ambition in their own national targets.
As of July 2025, only seven countries outside of the EU have updated their 2030 national targets.
The current global sum of national targets now collectively amounts to 7.4 TW.
This is well below the 11 TW needed to meet the COP28 goal.
Inside the relentless race for AI capacity (Financial Times)
Gartner predicts there will be $475bn of investment in data centres this year.
By 2030, McKinsey predicted $5.2tn of investment in data centres will be required.
The challenge with AI data centres is that racks of computers running Nvidia’s chips consume at least 10 times as much power as regular web servers.
Additionally they give off so much heat that air conditioning is not enough to cool them.
Operators have turned to installing pipes filled with cold water in the server room to transfer heat away from equipment.
This water is then directed to large cooling towers that use evaporation to reduce the facility’s temperature to a safe range.
Hyperscale and colocation sites in the US consumed 55bn litres of water in 2023.
Notes:
Water scarcity is becoming a concern as in 2023, Microsoft said that 42 per cent of its water came from “areas with water stress.”
Google also said last year almost 30 per cent of its water came from watersheds with a medium or high risk of “water depletion or scarcity”.
This could impact new data centre construction.
US
Apple pledges additional $100B in manufacturing, incentivizing suppliers to US
Apple is investing an additional $100 billion in U.S. manufacturing that will fund expansions across 10 states.
The company is also launching the American Manufacturing Program, which aims to bring more of Apple’s supply chain to the United States.
Apple’s U.S. investment adds to the $500 billion previously announced in February.
Meta to share AI infrastructure costs via $2 billion asset sale
Meta is planning on bringing in outside partners to help fund the infrastructure needed to power artificial intelligence.
They plan to offload $2 billion in data center assets as part of this strategy.
The strategy reflects a broader shift among tech giants who have tended to self fund growth.
Helion Secures Land and Begins Building on the Site of World’s First Fusion Power Plant
Helion announced that it has begun work on the site of its first fusion power plant.
In 2023, Helion announced a power purchase agreement (PPA) that will provide energy from the plant to Microsoft by 2028.
Notes:
This is a First of a Kind project to generate zero-carbon electricity from fusion.
If successful, this technology infrastructure could be an alternative to nuclear power plants.
First US commercial uranium enrichment plant signs lease in Paducah
General Matter plans to build a proposed $1.5 billion facility on the 100-acre parcel leased from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The company hopes to end America's reliance on imported uranium.
Notes:
The US is planning to build out its nuclear fuel supply chain.
China
Shanghai targets 5 new data centres in 2025 as China boosts AI computing capacity
Shanghai aims to complete at least five new large-scale data centres by the end of the year.
It is the latest example of how local governments in China are driving the development of AI infrastructure.
In January, Beijing’s largest computing cluster increased its capacity by 67 per cent.
The administrative body of E-Town, a state-backed hi-tech manufacturing hub in southeastern Beijing, is providing computing vouchers worth 100 million yuan (US$14 million) annually for companies renting computing power.
In their last financial year, Baidu, Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings collectively poured about 190 billion yuan (US ~$26.5b) in capital investment
India
India identifies over 200 GW pumped hydro storage potential, 8 GW under construction
India has identified a pumped storage potential of more than 200 gigawatts (GW) across the country.
Approximately 8 GW is currently under construction.
61 GW is in various stages of planning and development.
India's renewable projects without supply deals double in nine months
India's stranded renewable power capacity (projects awarded but unable to come online) more than doubled over nine months.
This was due to unfinished transmission lines and legal and regulatory delays.
Renewable projects that won tenders to generate power but are yet to sign power purchase agreements with buyers have increased to over 50 gigawatts.
This is about a quarter the size of India's current installed renewable capacity of 184.6 GW.
India aims to more than double its non-fossil fuel power capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030.
Italy
Italy Approves Sicily Bridge After 50 Years of False Starts
Italy approved a €13.5 billion bridge to link the island of Sicily with the mainland.
This will be the world’s longest suspension bridge.
The investment was positioned as a national security priority with the government aiming to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP as part of its NATO membership.
Syria
Turkey Seeks to Build Industrial Zones in Syria to Bolster Trade
Turkey plans to build industrial zones in Syria to develop the country's war-ravaged economy and boost cross-border trade.
The head of Turkey's Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges, says it's possible to establish industrial zones with secure and fully-infrastructured facilities in Syria within a short period.
This is to revive bilateral trade.
Ivory Coast
Dangote Cement’s New Ivory Coast Plant Will Produce 3 Million Tons Per Year
Africa’s biggest cement producer plans to open a new plant in Ivory Coast.
This is to capitalize on a construction boom in one of the continent’s fastest-growing economies.
Ivory Coast’s construction market is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 9.6% between 2025 and 2032.
Acquisitions
Nextracker, a solar tracker software provider (they optimize solar panel performance), acquired OnSight Technology, a Californian provider of autonomous solar inspection robots. More here.
Tough Commerce, a Canadian company which develops management software for asset based construction businesses with operations in concrete, concrete pumping, hydrovac excavation and more, acquired AgileTQ which develops software to streamline cash flow and job management for concrete pumping companies. More here.
News
US construction spending extends decline in June
Construction spending fell 0.4% after a revised 0.4% decrease in May.
Spending on private construction projects slipped 0.5%.
Investment in residential construction decreased 0.7%, with outlays on new single-family housing projects falling 1.8%.
Digital and AI in Nordic Construction (BCG)
Can cities and states keep their roads in good shape?
Two dozen states reported a combined $86.3 billion funding gap over the next decade.
This could prevent them from properly maintaining their roads and bridges.
Top AI Questions Every Real Estate Executive Is Asking Right Now (Thesis Driven)
Slow contech adoption could stymie data center projects
Can Data Centers Help Keep Architecture Firms Afloat? (Bloomberg)
A Ray of Housing Hope Is Emerging in Washington (Bloomberg)
Blue-collar revenge: The things AI can't do are making a comeback
If I missed anything this week, please reply and let me know! I’ll make sure to include it next week.