By Sharen Kaur
KUALA LUMPUR: As Malaysia moves deeper into the age of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, I-Berhad is redefining what property development truly means with the creation of an entirely new way of living.
This approach recognises that modern homes must serve a wide spectrum of residents, from singles and young couples to small households and multi-generational families living under one roof.
Rather than designing for a single lifestyle, I-Berhad is shaping residential environments that adapt to how people live today and how they are likely to live in the future.
This shift begins with a simple but profound idea: a home should do more than shelter its occupants. It should work alongside them — anticipating needs, simplifying daily routines and seamlessly integrating intelligent machines into daily life.
That vision underpins AI Tower, i-City's latest residential development and the world's first residential concept purpose-built for life with AI and robotics.
Instead of layering technology onto a conventional building, the 500-unit AI Tower has been designed to accommodate intelligent systems as a natural part of the home environment.
From unit layouts and digital infrastructure to building management and long-term operating efficiency, every element has been planned to support the presence of AI and robotics as part of everyday domestic life.
The result is a residential development that signals a fundamental shift in how homes are conceived — one where humans and intelligent machines coexist seamlessly and harmoniously as collaborative partners in daily living.
"Unlike conventional residences that retrofit technology as an afterthought, AI Tower's units are planned right from the start to accommodate domestic robotics.
Spatial layouts, circulation paths, service zones and infrastructure allowances are designed to allow robots to operate naturally within the home, just like a human," said SA Architect director Tony Mak.
As robots take on a growing role in daily life — from cleaning and wellness monitoring to domestic assistance — homes must evolve accordingly.
At AI Tower, robotics are treated not as gadgets but as functional occupants within the residential ecosystem, Mak says.
i-City's AI Tower creates a new market
Located in Selangor's capital, i-City represents a forward-looking vision of urban living. Conceived as a technology-driven city, the development integrates residential, commercial and recreational components around innovation, smart living and immersive digital experiences.
Beyond work and home, i-City has also established itself as a major leisure destination, anchored by the i-City Theme Park, interactive attractions and its signature LED-lit landscapes that come alive after dark.
Landmark developments like AI Tower illustrate how homes and urban environments can evolve in tandem with technology advancement.
Life at AI Tower goes beyond individual homes, forming part of the wider i-City AI World ecosystem that integrates AI, robotics and wellness services in a flexible, plug-and-play environment.
By combining AI-native design, accessible pricing and service-based access to technology, AI Tower offers a new residential proposition where residents enter an intelligent ecosystem that evolves with them, underscoring a future of property defined by experience, innovation and vision rather than bricks and mortar alone.
"Traditional property developments compete on familiar metrics: location, price per square foot, and amenities. AI Tower operates on a fundamentally different plane," said Savills Malaysia group managing director Datuk Paul Khong during a recent visit to the i-City development..
"It is part of Malaysia's first AI- and robotics-enabled urban ecosystem, where AI is not an add-on feature but a core layer of daily life. In doing so, i-City is not participating in an existing market... They are creating a new one."
Rather than relying on familiar labels such as "smart city" or "mixed-use development", i-City — and the AI Tower within it — is positioned as a living AI ecosystem. Here, intelligence is embedded naturally into everyday life: in how residents interact with their homes, how services respond intuitively, and how environments adapt in real time.
Within the AI Tower, AI and robotics are designed to work quietly in the background — enhancing convenience, safety, and quality of life without demanding technical expertise from residents. Technology becomes an enabler of lifestyle, not a layer of complexity.
Property and technology analysts said that if Nvidia Corp. chief executive officer Jensen Huang's views prove accurate, the next feature bundled into homes may not be another appliance, but a robot.
Speaking at Nvidia's GPU Technology Conference last year, Huang said robotics was poised to become the next major consumer electronics opportunity, driven by global labour shortages and rapid advances in AI that allow machines to augment human work.
Based on this view, analysts noted that robotics represented the next major wave after personal computers, smartphones and smart devices — one that pushes AI beyond the digital realm and into the physical environment.
Homes for Robotics Future
Earmarked for completion in 2030, AI Tower aims to integrate architecture, mechanical and electrical systems, digital infrastructure, and building operations in a way that lowers long-term robot deployment costs, enhances reliability, and supports multiple generations of robotic upgrades over the next 20 to 30 years.
To achieve this, the project incorporates technical input from China-based AgiBot Innovation (Shanghai) Technology Co Ltd to ensure that current and future domestic robot capabilities are considered at the earliest stages of architectural and engineering design.
"We are excited to collaborate with i-City on the AI Tower residences, which open up a new application pathway for humanoid robots," said Jason Liu, AgiBot marketing director, Asia Pacific region. "Domestic robots are no longer a distant concept — they are part of everyday life and something people can come home to today."
In a contrarian move, i-City has priced AI Tower residences at levels comparable to its premium DoubleTree Tower residences launched in 2019. The rationale is simple: future-ready living should not require future-level pricing.
Residents gain access to a next-generation living environment – without paying a next-generation premium.
A defining feature of AI Tower is its adoption of a Robotics-as-a-Service model. Instead of purchasing robots outright, domestic robots are offered on a lease basis, at costs broadly comparable to hiring a domestic maid.
This removes key barriers to adoption, including high upfront costs, maintenance concerns and technology obsolescence.
More importantly, robot leasing is optional, giving residents full flexibility in how they choose to engage with AI and robotics in their homes.
The same philosophy applies to the AI Wellness App, which operates on a subscription basis, allowing residents to access evolving wellness features without large upfront commitments.
Source: https://www.nst.com.my/business/corporate/2026/01/1350343/worlds-first-ai-residential-tower-worlds-first-homes-built-ai
