Flower Labs, a startup backed by Y Combinator, launched a preview of its distributed cloud platform, Flower Intelligence, on Tuesday. The platform is specifically designed to serve AI models. Mozilla is already utilizing the platform to support an upcoming assistant summary plugin for its Thunderbird email client.
According to a post by Flower Labs on X, Flower Intelligence stands out because it can power AI applications directly on devices such as mobiles, PCs, and web apps, while seamlessly switching to private cloud resources when necessary, with user consent. Applications primarily rely on locally-run AI models to enhance speed and privacy but switch to Flower's cloud when additional computational power is required.
Companies like Microsoft and Apple have adopted similar strategies within their operating systems and devices. However, Flower is among the first to build a hybrid cloud-local AI platform entirely based on open models, including those from Meta’s Llama family, China-based DeepSeek AI Lab, and Mistral.
Flower Labs claims that its cloud service, Flower Confidential Remote Compute, employs end-to-end encryption along with "other technologies" to safeguard users' sensitive information. Ryan Sipes, Executive Director of Mozilla Thunderbird, stated in a release that Flower Intelligence enables Mozilla to deliver AI that operates on-device, capable of "processing the most sensitive data locally."
Developers can apply for early access to Flower Intelligence starting Tuesday. Flower Labs plans to make the service more widely available soon, introducing features such as model customization, fine-tuning, and federated training in the cloud.
Flower Labs will host an online and in-person summit in London on March 26, where the company promises to reveal further details and capabilities of Flower Intelligence.
Since its debut in 2023, Flower Labs has raised approximately $23.6 million in venture capital from investors including Felicis, Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue, Betaworks, and Pioneer Fund. Brave, the open-source web browser, is one of its early partners and collaborators.
