Flower Labs, a Y Combinator-backed startup, has introduced Flower Intelligence, a distributed cloud platform designed to serve AI models across mobile, PC, and web applications.

The platform allows apps to run AI models locally for speed and privacy, switching to the cloud when more computational power is needed, with the user's consent.

However, this hybrid approach aims to optimise both performance and privacy, a feature already in use by Mozilla for its Thunderbird email client.

Unlike other companies like Microsoft and Apple, which have adopted similar hybrid approaches, Flower Labs is the first to build an entirely open model platform using models from companies like Meta and DeepSeek.

Its cloud service, Flower Confidential Remote Compute, employs end-to-end encryption to ensure sensitive user data remains protected. Ryan Sipes from Mozilla praised the platform, noting that it enables on-device AI that works with the most sensitive data, ensuring privacy without sacrificing functionality.

Developers can now apply for early access to Flower Intelligence, with broader availability expected in the near future. The company is also planning to expand the platform with additional features such as model fine-tuning, customisation, and federated training.

Flower Labs has already raised around$23.6 million in venture capital, with support from investors like Felicis and Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue. The company will reveal more details at its upcoming summit in London on 26 March 2025.