Proton, the Swiss‑based privacy champion behind Proton Mail, VPN, and Pass, announced today the rollout of Lumo 1.1, the newest version of its encrypted AI chatbot.
The upgrade arrives just a month after Lumo’s initial launch, and Proton says the improvements are “significant.” By adding extra GPU capacity and refining its underlying models, Lumo 1.1 delivers sharper answers, stronger web-search capabilities, and smoother handling of multi-step tasks—all while keeping the same zero-access encryption that protects user data.
Lumo is positioned as a private AI assistant that works for users, not the other way around. Whether you need to look up current events without exposing your browsing habits, summarise a sensitive legal document, get health‑related information, or rewrite a personal email, Lumo promises to do it without logging chats, selling data, or sharing anything with third parties. All conversations remain encrypted end‑to‑end, and Proton itself cannot read them.
The upgraded version brings three major gains. Context understanding has reportedly jumped by 170 %, allowing the assistant to better grasp user‑provided documents and data. Coding assistance sees a 40 % boost, resulting in more accurate code generation and debugging. Reasoning and planning have improved by 200 %, giving Lumo stronger multi‑step problem‑solving abilities and smarter tool selection, such as invoking web search when appropriate. The refined web‑search engine also reduces “hallucinations,” meaning the AI is less likely to fabricate information when answering questions about recent events.
Transparency remains a cornerstone of Proton’s strategy. While the Lumo web client has already been open-sourced, the company is now releasing the source code for its iOS and Android apps. This move underscores the belief that openness is essential in AI, helping users verify that the assistant isn’t being steered toward any political agenda or covert data leakage.
Eamonn Maguire, Proton’s Head of Machine Learning, warned that the broader AI race is dominated by firms that monetise user data. “It’s vital that a private approach to AI is established now to avoid Big Tech repeating the mistakes made in the search and browser markets,” he said. “We want to give users a viable alternative that performs as well as anything else on the market, but does so while working for users, not for advertisers.”
The Lumo 1.1 update is available to all Proton users, including those on the free tier. For those who want faster response times, unlimited usage, and priority access to upcoming features, Proton offers Lumo Plus, a paid subscription that helps fund continued privacy-focused development.
Looking ahead, Proton hints that Lumo 1.2 is slated for release next month, promising further community-driven enhancements. As the company continues to iterate quickly, it aims to keep privacy at the core while delivering an AI experience that rivals mainstream assistants.
For more details, visit the Proton blog.
