Cloudflare and Microsoft have entered into a strategic partnership with the goal of optimizing the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) models across various platforms. This collaboration aims to enable businesses to run AI models in locations that best suit their specific needs, whether on devices, network edges, or in cloud environments.
The initiative leverages Microsoft's open source ONNX Runtime, a standardized solution facilitating the deployment of AI models in diverse environments. This approach allows businesses to maximize the advantages of both centralized and distributed computing models, tailoring AI inference to the unique needs and demands of each organization.
Enhancing Online Privacy
In addition to optimizing AI model location, the partnership also focuses on enhancing online privacy. Microsoft Edge is integrating Cloudflare's Privacy Gateway proxy technology to power its Edge Secure Network feature.
If you're unfamiliar with Secure Network, it is essentially a VPN for Edge that Microsoft launched last year. The Microsoft Edge Secure Network is not a service from Microsoft itself. It is an affiliate service that uses Cloudflare as its provider. Microsoft says that all data and diagnostic information is completely erased every day. This is a VPN service that does not cost anything, but it has a limit of 1GB of data.
This integration aims to offer Microsoft Edge users a more private browsing experience, reducing the risk of being tracked across websites. The collaboration emphasizes automatic browser traffic security, connection encryption, online tracking prevention, and location privacy. Users can enable the Edge Secure Network to secure their browser traffic, hide their IP address, and prevent third-party trackers from collecting browsing data.
A Privacy-First Approach
Cloudflare's privacy-first approach, combined with Microsoft's extensive experience in AI, aims to provide users with a secure and efficient browsing experience. The integration allows users to access potentially unsafe URLs securely, routing traffic through an encrypted tunnel.
This approach ensures that users maintain location accuracy for search results and social media content while appearing to originate from a Cloudflare IP address. Matthew Prince, CEO at Cloudflare, emphasized the importance of proactive measures and privacy-enhancing technology, stating, “This integration with Microsoft Edge will give Internet users peace of mind.”Andrew Nolan, Principal Product Manager for Microsoft Edge, expressed excitement about working with Cloudflare and highlighted the commitment to providing users with advanced security and privacy online.
Innovative Solutions for a Better Internet
Cloudflare's innovative Privacy Proxy Platform is not a typical VPN. It implements HTTP CONNECT, a method defined in the HTTP standard that proxies traffic by establishing a tunnel and sending reliable and ordered byte streams through that tunnel. The platform includes a Token Proxy, Privacy API, and Privacy Proxy, which work together to authenticate users and proxy encrypted HTTP requests to origin sites. The integration with Microsoft Edge is a step forward in Cloudflare's mission to bring more privacy options to the open Internet and provide a more private and secure browsing experience to Edge users.
