While the music industry was upended by Apple, the taxi industry by Uber, and the entertainment industry by Netflix, the construction industry has largely escaped notice. But the reprieve has ended. A number of tech companies have made their move, flush with the capital to cause significant disruption. In 2015, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, launched New York-based Sidewalk Labs, an organization that aims to build Quayside, a new neighborhood in Toronto that "combines the best in urban design with the latest in digital technology." In 2016, Tesla announced its entree into the roofing business with a photovoltaic shingle designed to "complement your home's architecture." And last year, Airbnb unveiled plans to apply its disruptive business model "more broadly to architecture and construction," throwing away conventional wisdom to "prototype new ways that homes can be built."
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