- Proton has launched Lumo, a new AI assistant dedicated to your privacy
- There is a free version and a paid-for plus version with premium features
- You can use Lumo in a web browser or via apps on iOS and Android
Proton, the Swiss company behind apps, including Proton Mail and Proton VPN, has launched its first AI product: Lumo.
Lumo is an open source AI assistant designed with an emphasis on privacy. You can use it for all the same things that you would use chat to, such as summarizing documents, helping with code or rewriting e emails, but you will be sure in the knowledge that everything you share with Lumo is completely confidential and read only on your device.
Proton guarantees that none of the information you provide to Lumo will be used to train LLMs and cannot be shared with third parties.
I recently wrote about the dangers of inadvertently providing sensitive information that is far more intimate than search or browsing history to AI companies, so Lumo’s arrival is timely.
The dangers of great tech
Advertising of Lumo, Andy Yen, founder and CEO of Proton, said: “When we first launched Proton Mail a decade ago, our vision was to build a better alternative to large technological ecosystems in favor of the entire community. Big Tech uses AI to supercharge the collection of sensitive user data to expand the world’s transition to implement capitalism.
“For this reason, we think it is important to provide an alternative that protects privacy and serves users as opposed to exploiting them. AI should not become the world’s most powerful surveillance tool, and our vision for Lumo is AI that puts people in front of the profits.”
So if you are looking for a European alternative to the major US and Chinese tech companies that dominate the AI market right now, Lumo could be a good idea.
Lumo is launched with key tools that we would expect in an AI these days, including a web search that is off by default for privacy but can be turned on. It has the ability to upload and analyze files, but unlike other AI assistants, no items of any documents are stored you upload.
Finally, Lumo Proton Dive has integration to add files to chats. The files remain end to end encrypted.
You can use Lumo for free or upgrade to Lumo Plus for $ 12.99 a month (about £ 9 / AU $ 20). Lumo Plus gives you premium features, including unlimited chat, expanded chat history, unlimited chat favorites and the ability to upload more and large files to Lumo.
You can sign up for lumo now at lumo.proton.meAt And there are apps for iOS and Android. Since it’s only just launched, we haven’t had a chance to compare Lumo with the more established chatbots like Chatgpt and Gemini yet, but you can be sure we’ll set it through its pace fast enough. See this space.
