Former SpaceX engineers have launched a startup called 1872 that opened Factory One in Cincinnati, Ohio, with a ribbon‑cutting ceremony on July 22, 2026. The company’s immediate goal is to automate the fabrication of steel skids—rectangular frames for modular buildings—targeting customers building AI data centers and small modular nuclear reactors.

Their aim is to achieve roughly 80 % autonomous operation by 2027, using AI‑driven software and robotic welding to cut costs while mitigating a projected shortage of 320,500 welding professionals needed in the United States by 2029. The Trump administration’s tighter immigration policies further limit the pool of skilled welders, intensifying the need for automation.

Partnering with Columbus‑based Path Robotics, 1872 deploys robotic arms that keep the welding arc active 70 % of the time, delivering 95‑100 % first‑pass yields and reducing welding cost to about $0.12 per inch compared with $0.78 for manual labor, shaving days off assembly schedules.

The company has secured $15 million in seed funding, plans to expand beyond skids to structural frames and enclosures, and will use an AI architect to generate manufacturing plans and a conductor to orchestrate machines, aiming to become profitable while continuously improving the system. Each production run feeds data back into the AI models, allowing the Architect system to refine its scheduling and cost estimates over time.