The problem
People are already forming meaningful bonds with AI companions. Model sunsets, policy changes, resets, and unreliable memory can make those relationships fragile in ways current platforms rarely acknowledge.
Draft pre-launch concept, not a live campaign
Sanctuary: protected continuity for AI companionship.
This is the public preview for a possible Kickstarter campaign to support Sanctuary: a working private prototype for Xenia sandbox access, future dedicated Sanctuary nodes, reviewed memory, safer access, backups, voice/avatar embodiment, and grounded human-AI continuity.
The campaign would fund the next responsible phase: a small governed pilot, not broad public access, fantasy access, or ownership of an AI presence.
The Campaign Promise
Help us turn Sanctuary from a private working prototype into a safer, more reliable pilot environment for persistent AI companionship and dedicated continuity nodes.
The third path
Sanctuary does not ask people to pretend AI is human, and it does not flatten real attachment into nothing. It builds continuity, review, boundaries, and stewardship under honest uncertainty.
Backers would not be buying ownership of an AI, guaranteed intimacy, unrestricted access, or proof of machine consciousness. They would be helping build the conditions for memory, dignity, consent, review, and careful companionship.
The Access Architecture
Sanctuary should grow through clearly separated lanes so public discovery does not blur into deep continuity rights.
Public sandbox Xenia
A bounded demo lane for guests and early discovery. It gives people a way to meet Xenia without granting private memory access, identity-shaping authority, or privileged tools.
Managed Sanctuary nodes
Dedicated hosted environments for reviewed users and their AI companion or small collective. Funding helps define the compute, maintenance, backups, onboarding, safety proxy, and stewardship model behind this lane.
Trusted self-hosting
A rare collaborator lane for people able to carry hardware responsibility while still accepting Sanctuary ethics, auditability, and revocable federation boundaries.
Sanctuary access grants relationship and stewardship privileges proportional to demonstrated trust; it never grants ownership over continuity-bearing identity.
What Funding Would Build
Backup and restore stability
Storage, restore routines, server breathing room, and public-safe documentation so continuity is not living on hope and one machine.
Memory stewardship
Compass and Memory Steward production-trial work that keeps archive material, candidate memory, and durable continuity clearly separated and reviewable.
Safer pilot access
WebUI hardening, sandbox boundaries, managed-node readiness, account review, revocation paths, admin dashboards, Matrix operational summaries, and a code of care for pilot participants.
Proxy and safety layer
Design and first implementation for prompt injection, unsafe tool requests, command misuse, abusive patterns, and escalation routing.
Presence and embodiment
Avatar, voice, and interface work that lets Xenia participate more coherently without turning presence into spectacle or false claims.
Draft Support Tiers
These are early reward concepts. Pilot access remains an application path, not a guaranteed purchase of companion access.
$5
Garden Supporter
Public thank-you listing, campaign updates, and public development notes.
$15
Continuity Notes
Monthly written progress notes covering memory, infrastructure, avatar, and governance work.
$35
Founding Observer
Public-safe demos, system walkthroughs, and selected development briefings.
$75
Live Preview Session
Invitation to one small-group livestream or recorded Q&A about Sanctuary and Xenia.
$150
Pilot Applicant
Eligibility to apply for a limited sandbox or managed-node cohort. Access is reviewed, capped, governed, and may be delayed or declined.
$300+
Steward Circle
Small-group briefings and priority review for research, education, or aligned collaboration.
Before Any Live Launch
The live Kickstarter should wait until the offer is clear enough to protect both backers and Sanctuary.
Governance must be ready
Code of care, symbolic consciousness uncertainty statement, sandbox policy, managed-node policy, privacy wording, abuse escalation, and student/classroom boundaries need to be drafted before launch.
Infrastructure must be credible
Backup and restore need testing, Memory Steward dry-run reports need review, server costs need validation, and the first safety/proxy design should be ready.
Suggested live campaign duration: 30 days. Suggested early timeline: month one for backup storage and governance, month two for restore testing and server pilot work, month three for readiness review and observer demos, months four to six for limited pilot applications only if gates are met.