- Blackstone, Brookfield, and other major investors are backing multibillion-dollar AI ventures aimed at building customized enterprise tools for functions such as underwriting, portfolio management, and operations.
- Proptech firms including Dealpath and Crexi are responding by positioning themselves as the industry’s trusted data layer, arguing that structured data and compliance infrastructure remain difficult to replicate.
- The shift could redefine competitive advantages in commercial real estate, favoring firms that combine proprietary data with AI-driven workflows while pressuring standalone software providers.
Commercial real estate’s AI race is entering a new phase, according to Bisnow. Rather than simply buying software from third-party vendors, some of the industry’s largest firms are backing efforts to build customized AI systems tailored to their own operations. The trend gained momentum this month as Anthropic and OpenAI unveiled major enterprise-focused ventures supported by some of Wall Street’s most influential real estate investors.
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Wall Street Backs Custom AI Infrastructure
On May 4, Anthropic launched the Claude Partner Network, a $1.5B joint venture backed by financial heavyweights including Blackstone and Goldman Sachs. The initiative pairs Anthropic engineers with corporate teams to build and support customized AI deployments.
The same day, OpenAI announced OpenAI Deployment Co., a $10B venture supported by TPG, Brookfield, Bain Capital, Advent, SoftBank, and Dragoneer. According to reports, one of its primary targets will be portfolio companies owned by real estate and private equity firms.
For commercial real estate, the implications extend beyond simple automation. These tools are increasingly being designed to integrate directly into underwriting models, asset management workflows, financial reporting systems, and portfolio analytics.
The Details
Fifth Wall CEO Brendan Wallace says AI is rapidly reducing the cost of building custom software. He compares today’s shift to the launch of the HMS Dreadnought. The battleship sparked a naval arms race and made older designs obsolete.
The trend gained momentum in March. That’s when Anthropic expanded Claude’s integration with Microsoft Excel. Spreadsheets remain central to CRE underwriting and investment analysis. As a result, firms can now connect AI tools more easily to proprietary models and workflows.
Wallace believes AI is bringing back an earlier era of software development. Companies once built highly customized internal systems for their operations. Later, many shifted to standardized third-party software. Now, lower development costs could make custom platforms practical again.
Proptech’s Data Moat Faces A New Test
The development arrives as proptech investment remains strong. Venture funding in proptech reached $16.7B in 2025, up 68% year-over-year, according to the Center for Real Estate Technology and Innovation. AI-native companies attracted $4.5B of that total and increased their share of funding by 42% compared to the prior year.
At the same time, established CRE technology firms are adapting. Dealpath and Crexi both recently rolled out AI enhancements designed to work alongside major large language models such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Microsoft Copilot.
Their strategy centers on becoming the industry’s system of record rather than competing directly with AI providers. Dealpath executives argue that structured data, security controls, compliance frameworks, and longstanding industry integrations create barriers that enterprises may not want to rebuild internally.
Crexi is making a similar case. Company executives point to the platform’s active marketplace and proprietary transaction data as enduring advantages, even as AI capabilities become more widely available.
Why It Matters
For the largest institutions, custom AI could become a strategic advantage. It could lower costs and streamline decision-making. Smaller owners, operators, and brokers may still rely on third-party platforms. Those platforms spread development costs across thousands of users.
Meanwhile, AI-driven office demand continues to reshape CRE markets. In San Francisco, major AI firms have fueled a new wave of leasing activity.
The outcome could reshape how investors evaluate proptech companies. Proprietary data, integrations, and compliance tools may become more valuable. That could happen if AI increasingly replicates software functions.
What’s Next
The next battleground will likely be data ownership and integration. As enterprise AI systems become more sophisticated, proptech firms will need to prove they offer unique datasets and infrastructure that AI models cannot easily replicate.
Investors will also be watching whether AI-native real estate firms can translate automation into measurable operating advantages. If customized AI meaningfully lowers costs while maintaining performance, it could create a new generation of technology-driven real estate companies and redefine where value accrues across the proptech ecosystem.
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