Reading List 06/06/26
Chatbots replacing realtors, Chinese synthetic diamonds, Australian batteries, Meta’s data center tents, and more
Welcome to the reading list, a weekly roundup of news and links related to buildings, infrastructure and industrial technology. This week we look at chatbots replacing realtors, Chinese synthetic diamonds, Australian batteries, Meta’s data center tents, and more. Roughly 2/3rds of the reading list is paywalled, so for full access become a paid subscriber.
Iran war
Iran breaks off negotiations with the US and vows to “completely block” the Strait of Hormuz. [CNBC]
Analysis of satellite data by the BBC suggests the damage Iran has inflicted on US military facilities is more extensive than has been previously reported. [BBC]
Housing
A NYT reporter successfully uses an AI chatbot instead of a realtor to sell their house. “A flurry of bookings to view our house over the coming weekend arrived in my inbox within hours. I struggled to manage the appointments until, again, I just let the chatbot do everything for me. I told agents that they had to email or text — no phone calls. Whatever they wrote, I copied and pasted into the chatbot; whatever it replied, I copied and pasted right back to the agents. I was worried that pushy ones would prey on my inexperience, so I had the chatbot come up with a list of potential conflicts and write confident responses I could have ready.” [NYT]
Opposition to property taxes is having a political moment, which as we’ve mentioned previously is a pretty bad idea. Now Florida really seems like it might be on the verge of effectively eliminating homeowner property taxes. “Gov. Ron DeSantis’ property tax plan for the November ballot would raise the homestead exemption to $250,000 and require the Legislature to enact a plan to eliminate property taxes entirely for the vast majority of Floridians who own the homes they live in, he announced Wednesday DeSantis said he was calling the Legislature back to Tallahassee on Monday to add an amendment to the ballot that would eventually eliminate property taxes for 92% of those Floridians by raising the homestead exemption to $500,000.” [Governing]
The urban benefits of allowing tall buildings. “Land-use regulations, including height limits, affect housing affordability and urban productivity. This column analyses over 11,000 urban agglomerations and 300,000 tall buildings to explore the effect of height restrictions on welfare. Vertical growth enhances land efficiency, reduces commuting, and boosts worker welfare. While higher density can increase housing demand and rents, the associated gains more than offset the costs.” [VoxEU]
It’s apparently easier to get planning permission to build a skyscraper in London (a city which has notoriously made it almost impossible to build new housing) if you include a publicly accessible roof deck, and thus quite a few London skyscrapers have them. [Diamond Geezer]
A census map of where air conditioning is uncommon in the US. [X]
Manufacturing
As AI gets more capable, the risk that someone uses it to design an engineered virus or pathogen rises. To help mitigate this risk, IFP co-led an open letter calling for mandatory record-keeping of who has purchased synthetic nucleic acids and the equipment for making them. “As life sciences researchers, builders of AI and biotechnology, and experts with a wide range of views on how to approach AI policy, we call on legislators to make screening of orders for synthetic nucleic acids — and the equipment needed to make them — mandatory.” [ScreenDNA.org]
One surprising beneficiary of the AI boom: Chinese manufacturers of synthetic diamonds, which are used as part of cooling systems for semiconductors. “Traditionally associated with jewelry, these synthetic gems are now being adopted as chip‑cooling materials, enabling denser and more powerful AI semiconductors. Momentum has accelerated after several Chinese producers reported that clients validated their diamonds as effective heat spreaders and began commercial shipments.” [Bloomberg]
California passes a bill requiring 3D printers to include controls to block the production of “ghost guns.” [The Register]
Elon Musk’s “Terafab” semiconductor fab gets a big tax break from a Texas county. [KBTX]