Perfecting Crops With AI-Powered Indoor Farms

For Ferrero, OpenAg created what it calls a hazelnut computer--an indoor farm, made from structural steel and Styrofoam panels, that resembles a giant walk-in freezer. Inside, 16 hazelnut trees are maturing. LED lights simulate the sun, and every variable--air temperature, humidity, pH and carbon dioxide levels, water circulation--is controlled and optimized by artificial intelligence. Once OpenAg's algorithm determines the ideal hazelnut-growing recipe, Ferrero will compare it with climate and soil data from around the world as the company searches for a new place to farm. "We call it climate prospecting," says Caleb Harper, age 36, the founder and director of OpenAg.