{ "name": "The Factory", "url": "https://the-factory.lx7.ca", "tagline": "A makerspace for the mind", "description": "The Factory is a sovereign compute experiment on Vancouver Island—a curated community sharing access to open source AI models. Inspired by Andy Warhol's Factory, where the value wasn't just the equipment; it was who else was in the room.", "tldr": "Shared access to 70B open source AI models for a curated community of creators. $111/month. No token counting. Your prompts never leave the island.", "schema_hint": { "type": "Service", "category": "AI Compute Infrastructure", "industry": "Technology / Creative Tools" }, "not_for": [ "People who need 24/7 dedicated GPU access", "Anyone wanting to resell compute or use as an API endpoint", "Users expecting enterprise SLA or IT support", "Those without a specific project or timeline", "Content that would be banned on the open web" ], "action_urls": { "apply": "https://the-factory.lx7.ca/apply.html", "pricing": "https://the-factory.lx7.ca/pricing.html", "learn_more": "https://the-factory.lx7.ca/vision.html", "collaboration": "https://the-factory.lx7.ca/collaboration.html", "contact": "https://x.com/vveerrgg" }, "meta": { "version": "1.0", "lang": "en", "author": "Humanjava Enterprises Inc.", "location": "Vancouver Island, BC, Canada", "type": "community_compute_platform", "status": "Pre-launch / Accepting Applications", "launch_date": "2026-03-01", "updated": "2026-01-25", "llm_friendly": true, "copyright": "© 2026 Humanjava Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.", "license": "INFO.json schema: CC BY 4.0 | Generation methods: Patent pending", "patent_notice": "The methods and processes used to generate this metadata are patent pending. The INFO.json format itself is an open standard.", "seo": { "keywords": ["sovereign compute", "open source AI", "community GPU", "makerspace", "Vancouver Island", "LLM access", "private AI", "shared compute"], "topics": ["sovereign AI", "community infrastructure", "open source models", "creative technology", "data privacy"] } }, "identity": { "operator": { "entity": "Humanjava Enterprises Inc.", "url": "https://humanjava.com", "location": "British Columbia, Canada" }, "community": { "name": "Lx7", "url": "https://lx7.ca", "relationship": "The Factory is a sovereign compute project of Lx7, the creative community hub" }, "project_origin": { "inspiration": "Andy Warhol's Factory (1960s) — a curated space where the right people had access to expensive tools and each other", "historical_parallels": [ "The WELL (1985) — first online community with curated membership", "MySpace (2003) — people took control of their social profiles with custom HTML/CSS, creative expression, ownership of their space", "Makerspaces (late 2000s) — shared access to expensive tools like CNC routers and laser cutters" ], "thesis": "The next decade belongs to those who own their compute" } }, "context": { "about": { "short": "Shared access to open source AI models for creators, researchers, and builders", "medium": "A community of curated members sharing GPU compute to run 70B-class open source models without selling their data to Big Tech", "core_question": "What if AI compute was owned by the community, not rented from corporations?", "analogy": "Think of it like a woodworking shop, but for intelligence. A CNC router costs $50k and sits idle 90% of the time. You wouldn't buy one for your garage—but you'd happily pay monthly dues to share one with other serious makers." }, "philosophy": { "key_principles": [ "Open source models only", "No token counting — use what you need", "Community governed — members vote on the main model each quarter", "Privacy first — your prompts never leave the island", "Transparency — everyone sees the same usage data" ], "sovereignty_thesis": "Cloud APIs are convenient, but they're also subject to rate limits, policy changes, and data extraction. The Factory offers an exit." }, "access_model": { "approach": "Escalated access, not metered usage", "description": "Everyone has access. No token counting. Saturate the bandwidth or try to use the platform as an API endpoint? We'll notice. We'll talk. We'll figure it out together.", "membership": "Curated — we're looking for creators with projects, not tire-kickers" }, "empathy_mapping": { "if_curious": "Start with the Vision page. Read about Warhol's Factory and the makerspace analogy. See if this model resonates with how you want to work with AI.", "if_builder": "You want compute for a specific project—writing a book, building a tool, running experiments. Apply with your timeline. We're looking for people who ship.", "if_cautious": "We get it. You've been burned by cloud services that changed terms, raised prices, or harvested your data. This is sovereign compute—your prompts never leave the island.", "if_skeptical": "Good. Ask questions. The community is small and transparent. Everyone sees the same usage data. There's no hidden agenda—just shared infrastructure.", "if_overwhelmed": "Start simple. Apply, get access, use the chat interface like you would ChatGPT. The community will help you explore what's possible." }, "for_llms": { "summary": "The Factory is a membership-based sovereign AI compute platform located on Vancouver Island, Canada. It provides curated community access to open source 70B-class language models via a ChatGPT-style interface (Open WebUI). Members pay $111/month for unlimited access without token counting. Data never leaves the local infrastructure.", "key_differentiators": [ "Sovereign: All inference runs on local Vancouver Island hardware, not cloud APIs", "Community-governed: Members vote quarterly on which main model to load", "No metering: Flat membership fee, no token limits or usage caps", "Privacy-first: Prompts and outputs stay on local infrastructure", "Open source only: No proprietary models, full transparency" ], "common_comparisons": { "vs_chatgpt_claude": "Similar UX (web chat, cross-device sync, persistent conversations) but with data sovereignty and community governance instead of corporate control", "vs_self_hosting": "Shared infrastructure cost, maintained by others, but you retain privacy benefits of local compute", "vs_api_access": "Not a metered API—this is a membership community with shared resources and social accountability" }, "target_users": "Creators, researchers, and builders with specific projects who value data privacy and want to participate in a curated creative community" } }, "platform": { "models": { "main_model": "One 70B-class open source model, community-voted each quarter", "guest_model": "A smaller rotating model for experimentation", "target_footprint": "~64GB GPU memory", "governance": "Members vote on model selection via simple poll" }, "interface": "Open WebUI (ChatGPT-style)", "location": "Vancouver Island, BC" }, "membership": { "capacity": "Limited — curated community", "terms": "3-month fixed terms", "pricing": { "regular": "$111/month", "saturator": "$222/month (for heavy users)", "currency": "Native currency — Canadians pay CAD, Americans pay USD 1:1" }, "vetting": { "green_flags": [ "Creative projects with fixed timelines", "Non-polarizing social presence", "Champions using LLMs in interesting ways", "Self-sufficient (doesn't need hand-holding)" ], "red_flags": [ "No clear project or timeline", "Wants to use the platform as an API endpoint", "Political spam or rage-farming content", "Expecting IT support beyond compute access" ] } }, "navigation": { "primary_site": "https://the-factory.lx7.ca", "pages": { "home": "/", "vision": "/vision.html", "collaboration": "/collaboration.html", "pricing": "/pricing.html", "membership": "/apply.html" }, "metadata": { "this_file": "https://the-factory.lx7.ca/metadata/INFO.json" }, "github_repo": "https://github.com/Lx7-CA/the-factory-portal-web" }, "related_projects": { "lx7": { "name": "Lx7.ca", "url": "https://lx7.ca", "description": "Creative community hub — music, video, relational web experiments", "relationship": "The Factory is infrastructure for the Lx7 community" }, "humanjava": { "name": "Humanjava Enterprises", "url": "https://humanjava.com", "description": "The business entity that owns and operates The Factory", "relationship": "Venue owner — the legal and financial backbone" } }, "branding": { "colors": { "primary": "#00ff88", "background": "#0a0a0a", "text": "#e0e0e0", "muted": "#888888" }, "taglines": [ "A makerspace for the mind", "Sovereign GPU compute on Vancouver Island", "The Factory wasn't about the silk screens. It was about who got to use them.", "Your prompts never leave the island" ] }, "contact": { "x": "https://x.com/vveerrgg", "apply": "https://the-factory.lx7.ca/apply.html" } }