Proton Launches Private AI Chatbot Lumo, Criticizing Apple Intelligence Privacy

Proton, the company behind encrypted email service Proton Mail, has launched a new freemium AI chatbot called Proton Lumo. The chatbot promises complete privacy, unlike mainstream AI services like ChatGPT and Gemini. Proton Lumo offers five privacy protections, including no logs, zero-access encryption, no data sharing, not used to train AI, and openness. The company has also criticized Apple Intelligence for its AI partnerships, highlighting the risks of data exploitation.

Proton, the company behind the encrypted email service Proton Mail, has launched a new freemium AI chatbot called Lumo. The chatbot promises to offer users a level of privacy that is currently lacking in mainstream AI services like ChatGPT and Gemini. Proton Lumo provides five key privacy protections: no logs, zero-access encryption, no data sharing, not used to train AI, and openness.

The AI chatbot is designed to address the growing concern over data exploitation by major tech companies. Proton's CEO and founder, Andy Yen, has criticized these companies for using AI to supercharge the collection of sensitive user data, thereby accelerating the world's transition to surveillance capitalism. Lumo, on the other hand, aims to put people ahead of profits.

Lumo employs no logs, meaning it does not keep a record of users' conversations on its servers. It uses zero-access encryption, ensuring that even Proton cannot read the encrypted conversations. Additionally, Lumo does not share user data with third parties, advertisers, or government agencies. Instead, it operates from Proton's European datacenters, providing users with robust privacy protections outside of US jurisdiction.

One of Lumo's standout features is that it does not use users' conversations or inputs to train its large language model. This is a significant departure from other AI services, which often use user data for training purposes. By avoiding this practice, Lumo minimizes the risk of exposing users to potential data misuse.

Lumo is based on open-source language models and operates from Proton's European datacenters. This transparency provides users with a higher level of trust and control over their data. The chatbot is not a partnership with OpenAI or other American or Chinese AI companies, and all queries are processed locally without being sent to third parties.

Proton has also integrated Lumo with its other privacy-focused services, such as Proton Drive. Users can easily add end-to-end encrypted files from their Proton Drive to their chats with Lumo, ensuring that sensitive information remains secure.

Lumo is available for free, with a limited number of questions per week for users without an account. Users with a free Proton account can view an encrypted chat history, upload small files, and favorite a limited number of chats. For those requiring more usage, Proton offers a $12.99-per-month Lumo Plus plan, which provides unlimited chats, extended encrypted chat history, unlimited favorites, and the ability to upload large files.

In summary, Proton Lumo represents a significant step forward in the development of privacy-focused AI. By offering a suite of privacy protections and avoiding data exploitation, Lumo provides users with a secure and trustworthy AI assistant.

References:
[1] https://proton.me/blog/lumo-ai
[2] https://www.theverge.com/news/711860/proton-privacy-focused-ai-chatbot