Markforged
Markforged Blacksmith AI
Markforged has announced new office space to support the expansion of its software and artificial intelligence (AI) teams, months after the launch of its Blacksmith software.
The 2,000-square-foot facility is located in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA and becomes the company’s central hub for the development of its AI-powered software platform. Kendall Square is a renowned home of a cluster of technology firms and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) buildings, and Markforged is hoping to capitalise on the local talent available as it doubles the size of its software and AI developer teams.
Markforged is set to roll out Blacksmith beyond its early access customers later this year, having had the software platform in for around two years. The software links up with Markforged machines and inspects printed parts against the geometry that was fed into the printer. If there are any faults in the build, the technology not only makes the user aware, but learns from it automatically. Moreover, Blacksmith won’t just be learning at the rate one company prints, but, if users agree, a whole fleet of the machines around the world. For context, Markforged has more than 10,000 machines in use across over 50 countries.
"Markforged CEO Greg Mark takes TCT through the development of Blacksmith here."
The company estimates that within a year of being out in the field Blacksmith will surpass the redesign capabilities of its senior mechanical engineers, CEO Greg Mark included. It also promises to improve the rate of repeatability and enable businesses to scale their 3D printing operations more efficiently. Markforged is backing this technology to contribute significantly to pushing manufacturing forward. It is thus that an entire office space has been dedicated to the platform, just months before its commercialisation.
“Kendall Square is the perfect environment for expanding our R&D team, and we’ll be able to take advantage of the top-tier AI developer talent in the area,” commented David Behaim, CTO and co-founder of Markforged. “Our Kendall team will transform manufacturing with Blacksmith. These developers will enable factories to run and fix themselves, ultimately reducing the cost of everything we buy.”
