Meet Tamay, Mechanize ai-er Tamay Besiroglu is a scientist and AI researcher turned entrepreneur. The official launch was on Thursday, as announced via a post on the platform X (formerly Twitter). The company has a lofty mission — to automate everything, end to end. They are largely targeting white collar professions rather than blue-collar, manual labor jobs where there is a greater necessity for robotics. Mechanize has thus far managed to place itself squarely within that very profitable space. In the U.S., the TAM is estimated to be about $18 trillion per year, and more than $60 trillion globally.
Besiroglu is director of the AI research collective Epoch. Best of all, AI’s arrival into the workforce is akin to flipping on the economic lights comes in. He argues that human wages should increase in an AI-automated world because workers will become “more valuable in complementary roles that AI cannot perform.” This is a welcome perspective, upending popular narratives about automation and the so-called coming jobs apocalypse.
The ambitious startup has hereafter drawn extensive support from a host of well-known investors. Notable backers include Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, Patrick Collison, Dwarkesh Patel, Jeff Dean, Sholto Douglas, and Marcus Abramovitch. Abramovitch happens to be a managing partner at the crypto hedge fund AltX. As an effective altruist, he brings not only credibility, but money to Mechanize’s efforts.
“Completely automating labor could generate vast abundance, much higher standards of living, and new goods and services that we can’t even imagine today,” said Besiroglu, emphasizing the transformative power of automation. He does say that even if wages go down in some cases, we should not judge improvements in our economic well-being based on wages alone. “People typically receive income from other sources—such as rents, dividends, and government welfare.”
Mechanize has consciously chosen to focus their attack on white-collar work. Given this segment of the job market, it’s ripe for the automation. “Our immediate focus is indeed on white-collar work,” Besiroglu confirmed, highlighting a shift in how technology could redefine professional roles.
The startup’s launch comes at a time when many of the largest corporations worldwide are already pursuing the automation of most human labor. This trend only highlights Mechanize’s existing capacity to shake up far more established industries, like building maintenance or labor employment contracts. As the industry accelerates toward improving efficiency and reducing costs, Mechanize wants to be instrumental in helping companies make that transition.
Besiroglu’s background in AI research positions him well to tackle the technical challenges associated with making AI agents operate effectively in various work environments. He’s the first to admit that solving these challenges is key for Mechanize, and the broader automation movement, to succeed.
Though the potential of complete automation worries some players in the industry, Besiroglu is hopeful about its economic potential. He is as enthusiastic as anyone that accomplishing this incredible feat will not make workers poorer. Rather, he believes it will benefit them by providing what he describes as “explosive economic growth.”
Not everyone shares his enthusiasm. A director at the research institute expressed skepticism about the startup’s reception, commenting on social media, “Yay just what I wanted for my bday: a comms crisis.” The comment provides a blunt insight into the fear of PR disasters. These difficulties come up often in conversations about automation and its impact on society.
Mechanize is growing fast and currently hiring as they continue to build their team to help speed their mission. With its unique approach to automation, the little startup is on track to make some big moves in forging a new workplace landscape.
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