Secure data analytics startup Opaque Systems Inc. today launched a new platform designed for running artificial intelligence workloads on encrypted data that protects machine learning pipelines.

Announced at the second annual Confidential Computing Summit, the new “Confidential AI Platform” supports machine learning pipelines as well as popular languages and frameworks for AI, such as Python and Spark. The platform allows enterprises to run a wide range of AI workloads, including SQL analytics and AI inference, on encrypted data with no reengineering required.

The platform seeks to address the issue of security and privacy concerns when it comes to implementing generative AI. Opaque argues that due to red tape and compliance requirements, enterprise data is often trapped, with existing techniques, like anonymization, proving to be error-prone and inadequate for many businesses.

With enterprises being forced to choose between innovation with AI and security, many have no choice other than to pick security, preventing AI projects from coming to fruition. This is where Opaque’s Confidential AI Platform steps in.

“Enterprises have long been forced to choose between data security and extracting value from their data. With Opaque, that dichotomy ends,” said Chief Executive Aaron Fulkerson. “Our platform ensures complete data sovereignty while allowing seamless deployment of AI workloads, unlocking business insights securely and efficiently – often enabling the use of sensitive data that couldn’t be used before.”

The capabilities released with the new platform expand on Opaque’s existing services to facilitate secure collaboration with cryptographic verification of privacy. The features allow organizations across industries to unlock sensitive data, yield richer insights and drive tangible business value by allowing AI workloads to be deployed on data while encrypted, the company says.

The Confidential AI Platform can address multiple industry use cases. In high tech, it secures data pipelines for analytics and machine learning workloads, maintaining privacy and enabling dynamic model training on encrypted customer data. Financial services can also benefit from secure data sharing and collaboration across business units and partners.

Manufacturers can use the platform to enforce data governance rules and maintain data policies, privacy and sovereignty. In human resources,  the platform allows for secure sharing and analysis of employee data across silos, supporting recruitment, retention, compensation and talent development while ensuring compliance with data privacy regulations such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.

Image: Opaque Systems