Flower Labs Launches AI Cloud Switching Service

Flower Labs Launches Flower Intelligence: A Distributed Cloud for AI Models

Flower Labs, a startup supported by Y Combinator, has announced a preview of its distributed cloud platform designed for deploying AI models. This platform, known as Flower Intelligence, is already being utilized by Mozilla to power the forthcoming Assist summarization add-on for its Thunderbird email client.

Unique Hybrid Approach

According to Flower Labs, a key differentiator of Flower Intelligence lies in its ability to power AI applications across mobile, PC, and web environments. These applications can seamlessly transition between on-device processing and a private cloud infrastructure, contingent upon user consent.

Applications initially leverage locally-run AI models for enhanced speed and data privacy. However, when greater computational resources are needed, they automatically switch to Flower’s cloud-based services.

Open Model Focus

While companies such as Microsoft and Apple have implemented comparable strategies within their ecosystems, Flower Labs distinguishes itself by constructing a hybrid cloud-local AI platform exclusively on open-source models.

This includes models originating from Meta’s Llama family, the DeepSeek AI lab in China, and Mistral.

Data Security and Privacy

Flower Labs asserts that its cloud service, the Flower Confidential Remote Compute, incorporates end-to-end encryption and other security measures to safeguard user data.

Ryan Sipes, managing director of Mozilla Thunderbird, stated that Flower Intelligence allows Mozilla to deliver on-device AI functionality while maintaining local control over sensitive information.

Availability and Future Development

Developers can now request early access to Flower Intelligence. Flower Labs intends to broaden the service’s availability in the coming months.

Planned enhancements include features for model customization, fine-tuning, and cloud-based federated training.

Upcoming Summit and Funding

An online and in-person summit will be held in London on March 26th. Flower Labs will unveil further details and functionalities of Flower Intelligence at this event.

Since its inception in 2023, Flower Labs has secured approximately $23.6 million in venture funding. Investors include Felicis, Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue, Betaworks, and Pioneer Fund.

Brave, the open-source web browser, was an early collaborator and partner in the development of this technology.