Shift Browser has awarded its second annual $25,000 Impact Grant to PhyCo, a Vancouver-based marine biotechnology company developing seaweed-based alternatives to agricultural plastics. PhyCo addresses the $100 billion agricultural plastics problem, where an estimated 70% of plastic in the food system comes from farming operations like mulch film. Co-founded in 2022 by marine biologist Ranah Chavoshi and biotechnologist Dr Stacey Goldberg, PhyCo recently completed the first phase of its international production-scale pilot in Portugal. The company works with Indigenous and coastal communities across Canada to build a responsible seaweed supply chain. The unrestricted funding will help PhyCo move its compostable, petroleum-free alternative closer to commercialisation.

Shift has launched Shift AI, a privacy-focused, context-aware AI system integrated into its customisable browser. The optional feature allows users to control when and how AI is used, addressing concerns that 44% of users have about AI acting without approval. Shift AI offers context-aware responses based on active tabs, intelligent search routing, and workflow continuity whilst maintaining privacy through Cloudflare's Privacy Proxy. Users can customise, opt in, or disable features entirely. A survey of 1,400 adults found that whilst 32% engage with AI daily and 53% report improved experiences, 44% worry about unauthorised AI actions. The browser targets professionals including developers, founders and consultants who use browsers as primary workspaces. Shift AI is now available at shift.com/ai.

Shift AI is officially live: built on Cloudflare's privacy-first, secure, and scalable infrastructure. April 29, 2026 Today, Shift Technologies, Inc. is launching Shift AI, bringing context-aware, privacy-first and totally optional AI directly into the world's first fully customizable browser. But Shift Technologies, Inc. didn't start with features. Shift Technologies, Inc. started with a problem. AI adoption is accelerating fast, but trust isn't keeping up. The market trend is clear: AI adoption is accelerating, but trust remains conditional. According to its Consumer Insights Survey of more nearly 1,500 adults: * 32% of users engage with AI daily * 53% say it improves their experience * 44% worry AI could act without their approval A stark gap has emerged: adoption is rising, but trust is lagging. This is why Shift Technologies, Inc. established a strategic infrastructure partnership with Cloudflare, the leading connectivity cloud company. Cloudflare's secure and scalable foundation acts as a crucial piece for the next generation of browser innovation. AI is being increasingly integrated across consumer technology, privacy can no longer be an afterthought. It must be baked into the network itself," said Mari Galicer, Director of Product Management at Cloudflare. "As an essential privacy layer for the AI era, Cloudflare is proud to partner with Shift to help deliver secure, browser-native AI experiences at the edge. The trust gap in AI. Most AI tools today weren't built with privacy as a foundation. When you submit a query, it's often sent directly to a model provider along with signals like IP address, session data, or account-level identifiers. Over time, that creates a data trail users don't see and don't control. That might work for standalone tools. But it doesn't work for a browser. Because the browser is where everything happens, your work, your communication, your ideas, your life. If AI is going to live there, trust can't be optional. Building AI Differently - From the Infrastructure Up That's why Shift Technologies, Inc. took a different approach. Before building features, Shift Technologies, Inc. built the foundation with Cloudflare. Cloudflare's secure and scalable foundation acts as a crucial piece for the next generation of browser innovation. Reinforced by its Privacy Proxy, which separates user identity from user activity, users maintain full control over AI functionality at all times - with the ability to opt in, customize features, or disable them entirely. AI cannot be an afterthought inside the browser," said Michael Foucher, Vice President of Product and Customer Success at Shift. "If users are going to trust AI in the environments where they work, communicate and manage multiple profiles, the infrastructure must prioritize security, privacy and user intent from the start Cloudflare isn't just a partner. It's the layer that makes private AI at scale possible. Here's how it works: Every request made through Shift AI is routed through multiple secure layers before it ever reaches a model. Cloudflare acts as a critical privacy boundary, an intermediary layer that removes identifying signals and prevents any direct connection between the user and the endpoint. By the time your query is processed, it has been fully anonymized. There is no direct path between your identity and your data. No persistent tracking.A stark gap has emerged: adoption is rising, but trust is lagging.This is why Shift Technologies, Inc. established a strategic infrastructure partnership with Cloudflare, the leading connectivity cloud company. Cloudflare's secure and scalable foundation acts as a crucial piece for the next generation of browser innovation. Reinforced by its Privacy Proxy, which separates user identity from user activity, users maintain full control over AI functionality at all times - with the ability to opt in, customize features, or disable them entirely. Shift AI is now available. Shift AI is now live today. As you harness the power of AI, you can trust the secure and scalable foundation Shift Technologies, Inc. has built with Cloudflare.