The Industry Concern
For capital deployment into continuous process environments such as oil refining and petrochemicals, an existing concern to AI technology adoption is operational liability. If an external software platform or optimization tool commands a process variable that triggers an overpressurization, a chemical runaway, or an unscheduled facility shutdown, operational liabilities are exposed.
The Dominus Solution
DOMINUS permanently eliminates this risk vector at the structural level. Per Ken Ma, Founder and CEO, “By enforcing an unassailable Physical Unidirectional Data Diode Topology, our platform is mathematically and physically barred from injecting commands, modifying loop configurations, or adjusting setpoints within the host facility’s Distributed Control System (DCS). Dominus’s RAG Workstation and Autonomous Advisory Systems operate on premises only, and are isolated from all other accesses including cloud technology.”
DOMINUS acts exclusively as a read only, human in the loop passive advisory workstation. By design, this insulates the owner and operator from safety critical plant closed loop AI actions.
Hardware Enforced Optical Separation vs. Software Firewalls
Traditional software firewalls and virtual private networks (VPNs) are inherently vulnerable to configuration errors, software exploits, and credential compromises. If a system relies on standard network routers, a bidirectional path always exists, leaving a backdoor open for unauthorized control injection. DOMINUS entirely replaces this software dependency risk with a galvanic, hardware enforced optical barrier.
The Physical Limitation Design
The DOMINUS network tap passes outbound real time variables across a specialized fiber optic photo coupling card assembly. The upstream card physically contains only a laser emitting transmitter (TX) and completely lacks light receiving components. The downstream card (connected to the Dominus AI Workstation) physically contains only a photo receptor receiver (RX) and completely lacks a laser transmitter.
The Resultant Safe Operation
Because DOMINUS operates at Level 3.5 of the Purdue Model for Industrial Control Systems, it remains entirely air gapped from the facility’s DCS active control execution layer.
Dominus Industries is currently headquartered in Atlanta but will relocate to Houston in early 2027.