Proton Launches Privacy-Focused AI Chatbot to Rival ChatGPT
Proton, the company behind Proton VPN, Proton Mail and Proton Pass, has released a new AI assistant that promises to keep user conversations completely private. The service, called Lumo, aims to be a ChatGPT alternative for users concerned about how their data is being used by major tech companies.
Unlike popular AI services from OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft, Lumo doesn’t keep server-side logs of conversations or use chat data to train its language models. The company says all conversations are stored using end-to-end encryption that only users can decrypt on their own devices.
“Big Tech is using AI to supercharge the collection of sensitive user data to accelerate the world’s transition to surveillance capitalism,” said Andy Yen, Proton’s CEO and founder. “Our vision for Lumo is AI that puts people ahead of profits.”
Lumo can write emails, summarize documents, generate code, and analyze uploaded files while maintaining what Proton calls “zero-access encryption” — meaning even the company itself cannot read user conversations. The system works similarly to Proton’s other privacy-focused services, which are trusted by over 100 million users worldwide.
The AI assistant runs on open-source language models hosted on Proton’s European servers. Web search capabilities are turned off by default to maximize privacy, though users can enable the feature to access what Proton describes as “privacy-friendly search engines.”
Key privacy features include a “ghost mode” that makes conversations disappear completely when users close their chat window, and integration with Proton Drive that allows users to work with encrypted files directly in conversations.
Unlike other AI services, Lumo doesn’t use conversations or user inputs to train its language models.
Lumo is available now at lumo.proton.me and through mobile apps for iOS and Android. Users without accounts can ask up to 25 questions per week but cannot access chat history. Free account holders get 100 weekly requests, encrypted chat history, and the ability to upload small files.
A Lumo Plus subscription costs $12.99 per month and provides unlimited chats, extended chat history, and support for large file uploads. The annual plan costs $120.
Proton positions Lumo as fundamentally different from AI assistants offered by major tech companies. The service is owned by the nonprofit Proton Foundation and operates entirely on European infrastructure using open-source models, with no partnerships with US or Chinese AI companies.
The launch comes as privacy concerns around AI continue to grow, with businesses and individuals increasingly worried about sensitive information being used to train competing AI models or being accessed by unauthorized parties.
