After eight years and more than half a billion dollars, Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) founder Larry Ellison‘s ambitious attempt to revolutionize agriculture with cutting-edge technology has yielded little more than lettuce and cherry tomatoes.
Sensei Ag, the farming venture Ellison co-founded with celebrity doctor David Agus on the Hawaiian island of Lanai, was envisioned as a technological marvel that would transform global food production using AI, robotics and advanced sensors, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Instead, it has been plagued by basic operational challenges.
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The project has cost Ellison more than the $300 million he paid in 2012 to acquire 98% of Lanai itself, the WSJ said. The 80-year-old billionaire has told executives he sees the agricultural venture as part of his legacy.
The company built six greenhouses on a remote stretch of the island, commissioning an Israeli firm to construct facilities initially budgeted at $12 million. Those costs ballooned to around $50 million due to design flaws and environmental challenges, according to the report.
The greenhouses proved ill-suited for Lanai’s climate, with powerful winds repeatedly blowing off roofs. Solar panels frequently failed, forcing reliance on diesel generators. Poor Wi-Fi prevented sensors from properly monitoring crops, and inadequate ventilation systems required supplemental floor fans.
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Sensei expanded beyond Hawaii by acquiring greenhouse facilities in Canada totaling nearly 3 million square feet, which required extensive retrofitting at a cost of approximately $200 million.
According to the Journal, the operations currently utilize just 5% of their capacity due to a saturated market.
The company’s technology development has been led by Danny Hillis, a renowned computer networking pioneer who lacks commercial agricultural experience. After cycling through several executives, Ellison and Agus appointed software engineer Dave Douglas in 2023 to run the company remotely from Massachusetts.
“The vision was so big. And then it just slowly got whittled away as we faced up to realities of implementing on Lanai,” said En Young, a former general manager of the Lanai facility.
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