An anchor against drifting. An altar for thought.
An anchor does not prevent navigation; it lets you stop where you choose instead of being carried by the current. ALTAR is the intelligence you consult once settled — designed to answer to the person who turns it on.
What we believe, in order of importance.
Rented intelligence is not yours.
If assisted thinking depends on an account, a connection and terms of service that can change tomorrow, you do not own the tool; you hold revocable access.
Privacy should be architectural, not merely promised.
A privacy policy is a promise. Local processing and minimized network access are architecture. We prefer architecture — while recognizing that no system is invulnerable.
Energy limits produce better ideas.
When energy is treated as unlimited, brute force becomes the default. A 15-watt target forces more careful choices, and many of ANCLA’s ideas grew from that constraint.
Small scale is a virtue, not a phase.
We do not aspire to a single giant factory. A future with many capable local workshops is more resilient than one with a single producer.
Fix it, or it fixes you.
A closed object limits you to being a user. An open, serviceable one gives you a path toward ownership. The difference appears when something breaks.
Resilience is tested on the worst day.
Most technology works when everything else works. Our design question is whether the essential function remains available during an outage.
Five commitments written before the first customer.
Product telemetry
The product will not report usage activity, anonymously or otherwise, under the label of product improvement.
Advertising or sponsored answers
No one will be able to pay to appear in ANCLA’s answers.
Features locked behind a subscription
Included local functions will not be disabled for lack of a subscription.
Closing ANCLA-owned source code
ANCLA-owned software is intended to be auditable and openly licensed; third-party components remain subject to their original licenses.
A sale without continuity protections
Any future transfer should preserve the right to keep using published ANCLA software. The enforceable terms will be set out in the applicable licenses and customer agreement.
If this sounds like common sense, there is a place for you.
The Founding Circle is targeted for August 2026: 101 planned units, offered in waitlist order.
Join the waitlist