“Every transformative technology forms the same messy arc – until it doesn’t.” It was this line in a LinkedIn post amidst a sea – no, an ocean – of DeepSeek-related commentary and social media chatter that really caught my attention last week. 

Perspective at the peak of the panic, tech founder and AI expert Tripty Arya neatly cut through the noise by reminding us of what large AI models really are; a utility. One that should be, as the name suggests, utilised. 

“Edison gave us the lightbulb,” said the founder and CEO of Travtus, a tech company which has built an AI solution for the multifamily sector. “But today? We don’t debate filament types – we just flip a switch. Large AI models are the new utility and utilities don’t have just one provider.”

So, yes, China’s DeepSeek-R1 surpassed ChatGPT as the most downloaded free app in the US last week causing Nvidia’s share price to drop 18%. And, if reports that the relative new kid on the AI block was trained in 55 days at a cost of $5.58 million are accurate, that raises questions around the AI funding frenzy we have seen over the past two years. This is particularly true in the US where venture capital firms sunk more than $155bn into AI start-ups between 2023 and 2024, according to start-up tracker PitchBook. 

But ultimately, this is all froth on top of a far more significant story. A story of the continued maturation of a sector that will see AI swiftly move from being an add-on to become the heart of business infrastructure in industries the world over.

Indeed, away from all the hype and headlines - there can be no denying that the world’s largest AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic and the tech giants behind them are not being viewed in the best of lights right now – comparably quiet, steady progress is being made in sectors like real estate. 

Businesses including EliseAI, which services the housing and healthcare sectors and raised $75m at Series D last August, and Arya’s Travtus are, among others, proving that there is a growing, tangible demand for AI services within the built world. 

This is what the wider sector should be focussing on. Not the big names, loud opinions and cacophony of conflicting information, but the day-to-day use cases and practical applications changing both the shape  of the real estate sector, and the world around us. 

That, after all, is where the opportunity lies. 

For more on those all-important day-to-day use cases and the tangible power of AI in the built world, join us for the next in our CREtech webinar AI series this Wednesday 5th February at 10am EST/3pm GMT. Sign up here to hear our experts discuss everything from what AI is actually for to how it is evolving within the real estate sector. Plus, of course, their take on the ever-changing state of the AI nation.

Don’t miss CREtech London on July 1st 2025 where JLL’s top tech team will take to the stage for a session on the launch of its new AI platform, JLL Falcon. 

- Emily

Emily Wright

Head of Content

CREtech

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