AI conversations that don't go over the hill.

What

Local AI for Golden Bay

We're running large language models on hardware right here in Golden Bay — your conversations and data stay in the community. Think of it as a way to have AI conversations that are private and serve the people who live here.

This is early work. We have some hardware, we've built a lab to test it, and we're now figuring out what's useful to whom. We're not a service yet — we're a community project figuring out what local AI could look like when it's built for place, not for profit.

Why

Because who provides AI matters

Golden Bay is a diverse, quirky community steeped in tradition — independent, community-minded, and rightfully skeptical of technology that extracts more than it gives. The standard AI model runs on distant servers, consumes your data as fuel, and answers to shareholders on the other side of the world.

We think AI should be different: local, transparent, and built so the people who use it also own the direction it takes. No surveillance, no lock-in, no power dynamic where the benefit flows out and the cost stays here.

How

Regional infrastructure, not a tech company

This isn't a startup with an exit strategy. It's regional infrastructure — a community-governed service where the people who use it pay for what it costs, and any surplus goes back into keeping it running and improving it. We're not a for-profit company and we're not trying to be one.

Our ambition is to power it with solar so it's self-sustaining — no ongoing energy cost, no dependency on grid prices, and a carbon footprint that matches the values of the place it serves. Everything about the organisation will be transparent: how it's run, where the money goes, how data is handled, and who makes the decisions.

Right now this is led by a Golden Bay local as a personal initiative. The goal from the start is for it to become community-governed — and that can only happen if the people of this place help shape it.

The legal form, governance model, and funding structure are still being worked through. We're sharing where we are honestly because we want this shaped by the community, not imposed on it.

When

This is where you come in

There's no launch date. Right now we're talking to people in Golden Bay — understanding what you need, what you're concerned about, and whether any of this is useful to you at all. A project like this only works if it's shaped by the community it serves.

If you live here, if you care about this place, or if you have a question or a concern: we'd love to hear from you.

Who

Fancy a kōrero?

Hi, I'm Don. I live in Kōwhai Cohousing in Tākaka. If you'd like to chat (a question, a concern, or just curiosity) I'd love to hear from you. We can meet in town for a sit down.