Look out ChatGPT – the creator of Proton Mail has just launched a new AI chatbot that’s super-secure and private

• Proton has launched Lumo, a new AI assistant that's dedicated to your privacy
• There's 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 that's designed with an emphasis on to privacy. You can use it for all the same things you would use ChatGPT for, like summarizing documents, helping with code or rewriting emails, but you'll be safe in the knowledge that everything you share with Lumo is completely confidential, and only readable on your device.

Proton guarantees that none of the information you give to Lumo will be used to train LLMs and can’t be shared with third parties.

I recently wrote about the dangers of unwittingly handing over sensitive information that's far more intimate than search or browsing history to AI companies, so Lumo's arrival is timely.

The dangers of Big Tech

Announcing 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 Big Tech ecosystems for the benefit of all of society. Big Tech is using AI to supercharge the collection of sensitive user data to accelerate the world’s transition to surveillance capitalism.

"For this reason, we believe it is essential 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 ahead of profits.”

So, if you’re looking for a European alternative to the big US and Chinese tech companies that are dominating the AI market right now, then Lumo could be a good idea.

Lumo launches with key tools that we’d expect in an AI these days, including a web search, which is turned 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 record is kept of any documents you upload.

Finally, Lumo has Proton Dive integration for adding files to chats. The files will stay 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 chats, extended chat history, unlimited chat favorites, and the ability to upload multiple and large files to Lumo.

You can sign up to Lumo now at lumo.proton.me, and there are apps for iOS and Android. Since it's only just launched we haven’t had a chance to compare Lumo to the more established chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini yet, but you can be sure we’ll be putting it through its paces soon enough. Watch this space.

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