Clarifai Unveils “AI Runners”: Empowering Local AI Deployment in the Age of Agentic AI

In a significant move set to redefine how developers deploy and manage artificial intelligence models, Clarifai, a global leader in AI platforms, today announced the launch of “AI Runners.” This innovative offering provides unprecedented flexibility, allowing developers to seamlessly connect AI models running on their local machines or private servers directly to Clarifai’s robust and scalable platform via a public API. The introduction of AI Runners directly addresses the escalating compute demands of emerging agentic AI systems, offering a secure and cost-effective solution.

The Rise of Agentic AI and Its Compute Needs

The AI landscape is rapidly evolving with the advent of “agentic AI.” Unlike traditional AI, which typically executes predefined tasks, agentic AI systems are designed for autonomous decision-making and goal-oriented action. They can “think for themselves,” set objectives, plan multi-step processes, and utilize various tools to achieve complex outcomes with minimal human intervention. From automating intricate business workflows to powering intelligent assistants that can interact with diverse systems, agentic AI promises a new era of automation.

However, this increased autonomy comes with a hefty price tag in terms of computational resources. Agentic AI, especially those leveraging large language models (LLMs) as their “brain,” requires substantial processing power for reasoning, planning, and executing actions. This creates significant challenges for organizations grappling with high public cloud GPU costs, data privacy concerns, and the need for low-latency inference.

AI Runners: The “Best of Both Worlds” Solution

Clarifai’s AI Runners directly tackle these challenges by providing a unique hybrid deployment model. Developers can now run their sensitive or custom AI models on their own hardware – whether it’s a local workstation, an on-premises server, or a private cloud cluster – and still benefit from the comprehensive management, monitoring, and scalability features of the Clarifai platform.

“Agentic AI is driving significant compute demands, and AI Runners provide a practical, secure solution for every developer,” stated Alfredo Ramos, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Clarifai. “It’s essentially ngrok for AI models, letting you build on your current setup and keep your models exactly where you want them, yet still get all the power and robustness of Clarifai’s API for your biggest agentic AI ideas.”

Key Features and Benefits of AI Runners:

• Unmatched Flexibility and Control: AI Runners give developers the freedom to choose where their models run. This is crucial for maintaining data sovereignty, complying with regulatory requirements, and leveraging existing compute infrastructure, effectively preventing vendor lock-in.
• Seamless Integration: By connecting local models to Clarifai’s public API, developers can instantly serve their custom AI models and integrate them into any application. The setup process is streamlined, often requiring just a single command.
• Supercharged Workflows: Users can build complex, multi-step AI workflows by chaining local models with the thousands of pre-trained models available on the Clarifai platform, all managed from a unified dashboard. This capability is particularly powerful for creating sophisticated agentic AI systems that require diverse functionalities.
• Cost Efficiency: By utilizing existing on-premises hardware for inference, especially for “token-hungry” LLMs and agents, organizations can significantly reduce their public cloud compute costs. Clarifai’s platform also offers compute orchestration features like traffic-based autoscaling, batching of requests, and GPU fractioning to further optimize resource utilization and reduce expenses.
• Streamlined Path to Production: AI Runners simplify the development lifecycle. Developers can start building and testing models locally, then seamlessly scale them to production within Kubernetes-based compute clusters on Clarifai’s platform.
• Enhanced Security and Privacy: Sensitive data and custom models remain within the user’s controlled environment, addressing critical security and privacy concerns, particularly relevant for enterprises and government entities.

Clarifai is making AI Runners accessible with a new Developer Plan, offered at a promotional price of $1 per month for the first year (standard price: $10 per month). This plan grants developers access to AI Runners and hundreds of cutting-edge AI models on the platform, fostering experimentation and innovation.

The launch of AI Runners solidifies Clarifai’s position at the forefront of AI infrastructure, offering a pragmatic and powerful solution for the growing demands of agentic AI. As AI continues to evolve towards more autonomous and intelligent systems, the ability to deploy and manage models flexibly and securely will be paramount, and Clarifai’s new offering looks set to deliver just that. Sources