How is AI actually programming CNC machines in 2026?

At IMTS 2026, CloudNC raised $20M to expand its AI that writes CNC toolpaths from CAD — now running in 1,000+ shops. Quote times, not careers, are what's shrinking.

The biggest news from IMTS 2026 (September 14–19, Chicago) was AI taking over the worst bottleneck in machine shops: CAM programming. CloudNC raised $20 million to expand CAM Assist, its AI tool that auto-generates machining strategies and toolpaths inside Autodesk Fusion and Mastercam — it is now used by more than 1,000 machine shops worldwide, including Lockheed Martin. The trick is not magic: instead of a human spending hours picking cutters, speeds and toolpaths, the physics-based AI computes optimal toolpaths from the raw CAD model, acting as a force multiplier amid the global skilled-machinist shortage.

CloudNC is also launching “Quote Agent,” an AI that prices jobs faster — slow estimates lose business, bad ones lose margins. If you buy precision parts, this matters: shops adopting AI quoting and programming are quoting faster and more accurately, so a vendor who still takes two weeks to price a job is falling behind.