In 2022, civil engineers Mauricio Valdes and Ernesto Gonzalez launched Buildpeer, a cloud-based platform for tracking schedules and changes in construction projects.
This platform also provides resources to help workers with training and understanding concepts such as sustainability credits.
In October 2024, Buildpeer, based in Mexico, welcomed its first investor, Brendan Iribe, to its Monterrey office. His visit marked a milestone in their three-year journey, during which Iribe supported their vision as a mentor.
Buildpeer currently boasts over 5,000 users across 900 job sites in Latin America and aims to strengthen its growth in Mexico while expanding into more countries.
Brendan Iribe is a well-known figure in the startup world. In 2014, the University of Maryland announced a significant gift of $31 million from Iribe, an alumnus.
The majority of this donation, $30 million, funded the construction of the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Engineering, a facility intended for research in virtual reality, augmented reality, computer vision, robotics, and future computing platforms.
The remaining $1 million established the Brendan Iribe Scholarship in Computer Science. Iribe noted that he always wanted to give back to the school and the public education system.
He hoped that the building would positively influence the future of computer science students.
The facility is designed to foster breakthroughs, innovative products, and startups that can transform how we live and interact with the world.
More recently, Brendan Iribe has made headlines as the co-founder of Sesame AI.
As the co-founder and CEO of Oculus, he developed and sold a hardware platform worth billions, significantly contributing to the mainstream acceptance of virtual reality.
His co-founder at Sesame AI, Ankit Kumar, previously the AI engineering lead for Discord’s Clyde, has extensive experience producing language and speech models at scale.
Sesame AI has gained attention on social media for its Conversational Speech Model (CSM) research, which claims that people cannot differentiate between AI-generated voices and authentic human voices.
A writer on AI for work, education, and life, described Sesame’s new AI voice as a remarkable demonstration of advancements in artificial intelligence.
The Wharton professor commended its effective use of disfluencies, pauses, and breath intakes, which make it sound more human while noting that some unsettling elements persist.
One venture capitalist compared this development to a “GPT-3 moment” for voice AI, stating that earlier versions were robotic and emotionless, lacking true human nuances.
Fei, the founder of SourceMediumHQ, shared his insights by referencing Sesame’s research on their CSM. He recounted an unexpected test where he activated Sesame’s voice agent, Maya, while using Grok’s new “argumentative” personality mode.
To his surprise, the two AI systems began conversing without any prompts.
The exchange was remarkable.
Grok became increasingly confrontational while Maya maintained composure and set boundaries. Fei noted that their interaction could have continued indefinitely if he hadn’t stopped recording after two minutes.
He highlighted several key differences that set Sesame’s technology apart from traditional voice AI: it adapts its speech based on conversation history and emotional context, understands and responds to subtle conversational cues, maintains consistent personality traits throughout interactions, and sounds genuinely human—overcoming the frustrations often associated with interacting with robots.
Sesame AI is also open-sourcing these models, allowing teams to customize them for specific brand voices and use cases.
Although the technology is not flawless—humans could detect AI 67% of the time during contextual conversations—this advancement represents a significant turning point.
Leading its Series A funding round, Sesame AI aims to position itself as the next major consumer computing platform, helping users redefine their interactions with computers.
The company actively hires across AI, hardware, products, and design.
Their team has developed a Conversational Speech Model (CSM) that takes an innovative approach to speech modeling, introducing Maya and Miles as the first AI companions.
We’re exploring a future where the computer isn’t just a tool—it’s a partner with a truly natural voice and personality. No big claims, just early work we’re excited to share. @sesame pic.twitter.com/jtTYntVgLy
— Brendan Iribe (@brendaniribe) February 27, 2025
At Sesame, we believe in a future where computers are lifelike. Today we are unveiling an early glimpse of our expressive voice technology, highlighting our focus on lifelike interactions and our vision for all-day wearable voice companions. https://t.co/Edp8V8urgC pic.twitter.com/Mc5nWnBJZM
— Sesame (@sesame) February 27, 2025
🗣️ Sesame just crossed the uncanny valley of voice AI.
I accidentally proved it with a bizarre experiment last night.
Last Thursday, @sesame published groundbreaking research on their Conversational Speech Model (CSM) that achieved something remarkable: humans couldn't tell the… pic.twitter.com/ZR2LVei7rV
— Fei (@feifanw) March 3, 2025
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