Caffeine, the AI app builder from DFINITY, now lets users choose where their Internet Computer apps run. The cloud picker arrived on Wednesday, according to the project’s announcement. It gives builders three choices: IC Mainnet, European Cloud, and Encrypted Cloud. IC Mainnet remains the default and is still the recommended option for most apps.
Three hosting choices
The new picker is meant to give teams more control over hosting and data location. European Cloud keeps an app’s compute and storage inside Europe. That option may matter to builders with regional data rules or customers who want data to stay in a specific area. DFINITY has previously described a European subnet on the Internet Computer as a step toward GDPR-compliant applications. The Caffeine announcement, though, does not explain how the new European Cloud option is built.
Encrypted Cloud keeps an app’s memory encrypted using AMD chip security. AMD’s Secure Encrypted Virtualization encrypts virtual machine memory. Its SEV-SNP generation, introduced in 2020, adds protection against host manipulation, according to an academic paper on confidential virtual machines. The source material does not name the exact AMD technology behind Encrypted Cloud, so the details here are limited.
Builders can switch before launch
The choice is not fixed from day one. Builders can change an app’s cloud in project settings at any time before the app goes live. That could be useful for teams that start on the default and later need a regional or encrypted setup. It also keeps the Internet Computer mainnet as the simple path for most projects.
Caffeine itself lets users create apps through natural language prompts. VentureBeat reported that apps built through the platform run on the Internet Computer rather than traditional cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services. The same report quoted DFINITY founder Dominic Williams as saying Caffeine was centralized at the time and that the team wanted it to run on the Internet Computer in future.
What is still unknown
The announcement did not include pricing, performance figures, or details on how the options differ in cost. That leaves some practical questions open. For teams with regional data requirements or stricter confidentiality needs, the new choices may be relevant. But without cost and performance data, it is hard to say how much difference they will make in day-to-day use. The cloud picker mainly adds control while keeping the Internet Computer as the default.
