Proton AI: Privacy-Focused AI Assistant

Proton Launches Lumo: A Privacy-Centric AI Assistant

On Wednesday, Proton, a developer of privacy-focused productivity applications, announced the release of its new AI assistant, named Lumo. A core principle of Lumo’s design is the protection of user data.

Key Privacy Features

The company highlights that this chatbot maintains no record of user conversations. Furthermore, end-to-end encryption is implemented for the secure storage of all chats. A unique “ghost mode” is also offered, ensuring conversations vanish immediately upon window closure.

Accessibility and Functionality

Lumo is accessible through a web interface, as well as dedicated applications for both Android and iOS platforms. Notably, an account is not required to utilize the chatbot and pose questions.

Users have the ability to upload files for analysis by the chatbot. Integration with Proton Drive is also available, allowing access to cloud-stored files. While Lumo possesses web access, the timeliness of search results may vary.

Commitment to Open Source and Data Security

Proton is strongly emphasizing its dedication to privacy. Lumo is built upon open-source models, and the company intends to exclusively leverage these models for future research and development. User data will not be used in the training of its AI models.

The assistant employs zero-access encryption, a security method consistent with other Proton products. This allows users to securely store their conversation history, decryptable only on their own devices.

European Base as a Privacy Advantage

Throughout its announcement, Proton underscored the benefits of its European headquarters. The company asserts this location provides a significant advantage over AI companies based in the United States and China regarding data privacy.

“Lumo is based upon open-source language models and operates from Proton’s European datacenters. This provides a level of transparency regarding Lumo’s operation that surpasses most other major AI assistants. Unlike Apple Intelligence and similar services, Lumo does not involve partnerships with OpenAI or other American or Chinese AI firms, and user inquiries are never transmitted to external parties,” Proton stated.

Expanding AI Integration

This launch represents Proton’s continued expansion into the rapidly evolving AI tools landscape. Last year, the company introduced an AI-powered writing assistant for its Mail service, also designed to operate locally on the user’s device.