---
title: The Local AI Box That Runs Entirely on a Tennis Ball
author: J. Quin
date: 2026-09-04
kicker: Tech
subject: tech
template: article
excerpt: A one-RPi coop build, and what it does better than cloud.
---

A one-RPi coop build, and what it does better than cloud. In a converted radio shack, a cooperative runs a small language model on hardware the size of a paperback — deliberately, and on purpose.

It does less, but it does it privately, and the members own the whole stack. That, its operators argue, is the point.