Praxis plans to invest in an AI-focused community in Uruguay beginning in 2027, combining advanced technology with classical culture while exploring how cities might adapt to a future where AI changes the role of human labor. (Source: Image by RR)

Inspiration Drawn from Renaissance Florence and Classical Civilization

Technology venture Praxis plans to begin building an AI-focused community in Uruguay designed around what its founders believe could be a radically different economic and cultural future. CEO Dryden Brown says the project’s first phase will be developed within +Colonia, an existing development near the historic city of Colonia del Sacramento, with the first residents expected to arrive by mid-2027. Praxis, as noted in an article at nypost.com, says it chose Uruguay for its natural beauty and political and economic stability and plans to mobilize $1 billion in investment over the next three years.

Praxis is pitching the project as more than another technology hub. Brown argues that artificial intelligence could fundamentally change the role of human labor, creating a need to reconsider how people find purpose and how new wealth is translated into culture and prosperity. The company says the community will experiment with new approaches to culture, technology and economic coordination for a future shaped by artificial general intelligence, drawing comparisons to Renaissance Florence, where wealth generated through banking and commerce helped finance architecture, art and intellectual life.

That philosophy will also influence the city’s physical appearance. Brown has described the desired architecture as a combination of Gothic design and space-age futurism, while Praxis says it wants to create a new culture drawing inspiration from ancient Greece and Rome. The company’s plan includes selling high-end homes to help finance artists, architects and thinkers, with Brown arguing that cultural contributors should be able to afford to live in the community they help create. The project remains preliminary, however, and the article notes that many details about how the proposed city will function have yet to be disclosed.

Praxis’s plans have also evolved from Brown’s earlier ambition to establish an independent city-state operating outside the laws of an existing country. Brown now says self-governance is not an immediate requirement and has agreed that the Uruguay project will operate under the country’s legal system. Praxis previously considered other locations, including Greenland, before settling on Uruguay. The project joins a broader movement among wealthy technology entrepreneurs seeking to build new communities around alternative ideas about urban planning, governance, technology and economic organization.

read more at nypost.com