Apple's Private Cloud Compute: Enhancing AI Privacy in the Cloud

Blog - Private Cloud Compute: A new frontier for AI privacy in the cloud - Apple Security Research 🔗

Secure and private AI processing in the cloud poses a formidable new challenge. To support advanced features of Apple Intelligence with larger foundation models, we created Private Cloud Compute (PCC), a groundbreaking cloud intelligence system designed specifically for private AI processing. Built with custom Apple silicon and a hardened operating system, Private Cloud Compute extends the industry-leading security and privacy of Apple devices into the cloud, making sure that personal user data sent to PCC isnât accessible to anyone other than the user â not even to Apple. We believe Private Cloud Compute is the most advanced security architecture ever deployed for cloud AI compute at scale.

Private Cloud Compute (PCC) is Apple's innovative solution designed to enhance AI privacy in the cloud by extending the security features of its devices to cloud processing. PCC aims to ensure that user data remains confidential and is not accessible even to Apple employees. Key features include stateless data processing, enforceable security guarantees, and protection against unauthorized access. The system employs advanced hardware and software designed specifically for secure AI tasks while ensuring that user data is deleted after processing. Additionally, PCC emphasizes transparency by allowing security researchers to verify its security claims, making it a significant advancement in cloud AI security.

PCC extends Apple device security to the cloud for AI processing.
User data is never stored or accessible to Apple staff.
Designed to be stateless, ensuring data is deleted after use.
Employs advanced hardware security and unique software architecture.
Provides transparency for security researchers to validate its security measures.

What is Private Cloud Compute (PCC)?

Private Cloud Compute is Apple's cloud intelligence system that enhances AI privacy by ensuring user data remains confidential and is only used for processing requests.

How does PCC ensure user data privacy?

PCC guarantees that user data is not stored or accessible to anyone other than the user, not even to Apple, and that it is deleted after processing.

Will security researchers be able to verify PCC's security claims?

Yes, Apple will make software images of every production build of PCC publicly available, allowing researchers to inspect and validate its security and privacy claims.