Comment by adamweld
18 hours ago
A recent Ezra Klein Interview[0] mentioned some "AI-Enabled" CAD tools used in China. Does anyone know what tools they might be talking about? I haven't been able to find any open-source tools with similar claims.
>I went with my colleague Keith Bradsher to Zeekr, one of China’s new car companies. We went into the design lab and watched the designer doing a 3D model of one of their new cars, putting it in different contexts — desert, rainforest, beach, different weather conditions.
>And we asked him what software he was using. We thought it was just some traditional CAD design. He said: It’s an open-source A.I. 3D design tool. He said what used to take him three months he now does in three hours.
[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/opinion/ezra-klein-podcas...
Sounds like he could have been using an implementation of stable-diffusion+control-net. I’ve used Automatic1111, but I understand comfyUI and somethingsomethingforge are more modern versions.
Happy to be corrected but this sounds like the kind of bullshit that crops up from time to time confusing "old" AI with generative AI.
Not that I don't believe it's possible. I just think the alternative (that it's bullshit) is more likely.