Behind every robot is a prompt – hopefully

Welcome to Tech in Asia’s daily newsletter, your essential dose of Asia’s tech and startup buzz. Not on the mailing list? Register here. Got a story tip? Send it to editors@techinasia.com.

In focus

• Meet Fabrica AI, gunning for ChatGPT-level disruption in robot design
• Our take on OpenAI crashing the open-weight LLM party
• Former PropertyGuru CEO launches AI venture

---

Hello reader,

Tile grouting is a simple task, but one that demands a lot of precision. I know this because I once tried it on just four tiles after fixing a pipe underneath. It took me nearly an hour and left a huge mess.

I guess that’s why I’m typing this newsletter instead of wearing a hard hat.

Even for skilled workers, grouting remains repetitive and time-consuming. Finishing a four-room apartment, for example, can take at least two hours. So why not hand the job over to robots instead?

That’s what the team at Fabrica AI thought – and did. Their autonomous grouting robots are now on active duty at construction sites across Singapore.

But the robot is more than just a product. It’s a testbed for Fabrica’s bigger ambition: to turn robot design into something as simple as developing a phone app. Think ChatGPT, but for prototyping machines instead of drafting emails.

In today’s Big Story, I dig into how Fabrica wants to close the gap between design and deployment in robotics – and why construction might just be the perfect proving ground for its vision.

Because let’s face it: Building robots should be harder than typing a prompt. But maybe not that much harder.

Speaking of prompts, OpenAI just dropped a big one. No, it’s not GPT-5 (yet), but it did release new models that anyone can download for free and tinker with. More details about it in the Spotlight.

Glenn Kaonang, journalist

---

The Big Story

What if building robots was just a prompt away?

---

Spotlight

---

Learn how AnyMind is leading the region’s next wave of digital growth

---

Trending news