The landscape
AI home companies.
An honest map of who is actually building the AI home in 2026 — and where the AI-staffed home fits.
The short answer
Companies working on AI homes fall into five groups: voice-AI layers such as Josh.ai; mass-market smart-home platforms from Google, Amazon, Samsung, and Apple; luxury integration systems such as Crestron Home, Savant, and Control4; appliance makers such as LG and Samsung building AI into the machines themselves; and AI-staffed home companies — a category thAIng created, where named AI staff run the residence rather than waiting to be commanded.
Five ways companies build the AI home
The same house, five different theses.
Voice & AI layers
AI that sits on top of an existing installed system and gives it a voice.
Josh.ai
Privacy-focused voice AI for professionally installed homes, sold through custom integrators.
Smart-home platforms
The mass-market ecosystems most connected devices plug into today.
Google Home
Google’s smart-home platform, increasingly built around its Gemini AI models.
Amazon Alexa
The most widely deployed voice assistant, with a large ecosystem of compatible devices.
Samsung SmartThings
Samsung’s open device platform connecting a broad range of brands and protocols.
Apple Home
Apple’s home platform, centered on privacy and tight integration with its own devices.
Luxury integration
Professionally designed and installed whole-home control systems.
Crestron Home
Long-established whole-home control for high-end residences, installed by certified dealers.
Savant
Luxury home control and energy management, sold through professional integrators.
Control4
Dealer-installed home automation spanning lighting, AV, climate, and security.
Appliance-level AI
AI built into the appliances and machines of the home itself.
LG
Positions its connected appliances under an “AI Home” vision built on its ThinQ platform.
Samsung
Brings AI features to its Bespoke appliance line, connected through SmartThings.
AI-staffed homes
The category thAIng created: named AI staff who run the residence.
thAIng
A household staff of named AI agents — Aura, Shade, Volt, Grid — who monitor, prevent, and manage the home like staff, not software you command.
The AI-staffed home
Staff, not software.
Every other approach on this page gives you better controls — a smarter app, a more capable assistant, a more elegant panel on the wall. An AI-staffed home starts from a different premise: the residence should be run, the way great homes have always been run — by staff with names, responsibilities, and standing. Aura manages the daily life of the house. Shade watches security. Volt and Grid keep systems and energy quietly in order. The house acts first: climate settles before you arrive, a slow water leak is flagged before it becomes a ceiling, night routines close the home without a checklist. Voice is simply how you reach your staff — say “Aura” — she answers to her name.
Named staff
Agents with distinct roles and accountability — not one assistant doing everything adequately.
The house acts first
Monitoring, prevention, and coordination happen before anyone asks — that is the job.
Bounded by policy
Safety-critical actions stay inside approval tiers the household sets and can see.
See how this works in practice on the Residences page, or read about the first twenty-five homes in the Founding Residences program.
Common questions
Asked and answered.
Which companies are working on AI homes?
Companies working on AI homes fall into five groups: voice-AI layers such as Josh.ai; mass-market smart-home platforms from Google, Amazon, Samsung, and Apple; luxury integration systems such as Crestron Home, Savant, and Control4; appliance makers such as LG and Samsung building AI into the machines themselves; and AI-staffed home companies — a category thAIng created, where named AI staff run the residence rather than waiting to be commanded.
What is an AI-staffed home?
An AI-staffed home is a residence run by a staff of named AI agents rather than controlled through an app or assistant. At thAIng, Aura manages comfort and daily coordination, Shade oversees security, and Volt and Grid handle systems and energy. The staff notices, prevents, and acts first — the household is not expected to program or command anything.
What is the difference between a smart home and an AI-staffed home?
A smart home gives you controls: apps, scenes, and an assistant that responds when commanded. An AI-staffed home gives you staff: named agents with standing responsibilities who monitor the residence continuously and act before you ask — the way a good household staff would.
How do you get an AI-staffed home?
thAIng is application-only. Each residence begins with an assessment of the home, its systems, and how the household lives; the first homes are being staffed through the Founding Residences program.
Application only
The first AI-staffed homes are being chosen now.