Signal Founder Launches Encrypted AI Chatbot

Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of the encrypted messaging app Signal, has unveiled Confer, a new open-source AI chatbot designed with user privacy at its core. Marlinspike expressed concerns about the lack of privacy in current AI platforms, noting that user conversations can often be accessed by companies and used for training purposes. He advocates for a chatbot interface that accurately reflects its privacy capabilities, just as Signal does.

Confer addresses these concerns by encrypting both user prompts and chatbot responses, ensuring that only the user can access their conversations. This is achieved through advanced security measures, including the use of passkeys (like Face ID or Touch ID) instead of traditional passwords. The system utilizes confidential computing, running AI inference within a hardware-isolated Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) to protect data during processing.

This technology creates a secure environment where the host machine cannot access the TEE's memory or execution state. The AI's response is then encrypted and sent back to the user, with cryptographic proof available to verify the integrity of the process. Confer aims to provide a safe space for users to explore ideas without their thoughts being exploited for advertising or data brokering.