Proton Unveils Privacy-Focused AI Email Assistant to Rival Tech Giants

Proton launches 'privacy-first' AI email assistant to rival Google, Microsoft

The Swiss firm wants to be like Big Tech -- but without the data privacy breaches Swiss app developer Proton has launched a new "privacy-first" AI email writing assistant that could be a more secure alternative to similar offerings from Google and Microsoft. Proton Scribe, integrated in Proton Mail, allows users to compose emails with simple prompts. The large language model (LLM) can also proofread your drafts before they're sent. To use the feature, all you have to do is draft an email in Proton Mail and click the pencil icon displayed at the bottom of the textbox. Tell the tool what you want to say and it will create a draft for you. You can then use the Shorten and Proofread options if you'd like to improve the text. There's also the option to make the tone of your email more formal. You can review and edit your drafts before sending them. Privacy-first AI assistant Like all of Proton's products, Scribe was designed with data privacy in mind. According to the company, the assistant can't train on your inbox data, as Proton Mail has a zero-access approach to encryption. Once you're done drafting your emails, Proton claims it doesn't log or save anything you've typed. Proton says Scribe is the first mass-market AI tool that can be run entirely locally, ensuring no data ever leaves your device. The programme can be downloaded onto MacOS, Windows, and Linux devices. That said, Proton Scribe requires a 4GB one-time download on your device, and a minimum 8GB RAM to run. For those without access to this computing power, there's the option to use Scribe on Proton's servers. This would mean your data does leave your device, although Proton assures us it doesn't not log any data regardless of where it is hosted. The AI writing assistant is powered by open-source models and code. This allows independent researchers to carry out privacy and security audits, says the company. Scribe is built on Mistral 7B, an open source language model from French AI startup Mistral, TechCrunch reports. Like Google, but not Google Proton's AI writing assistant arrives just weeks after the company unveiled Proton Docs, a privacy-focused alternative to Google Docs. Proton Scribe also follows Google's announcement last month that it is integrating its Gemini chatbot into Gmail for tasks including email writing. Proton Docs and Proton Mail stand in stark contrast to Google or Microsoft's equivalent offerings, which are not end-to-end encrypted. For one, Google has been shown to retains access to all your emails and docs and use them for targeted advertising. This week, one user of Google Docs even claimed that Google Gemini had accessed and edited his private document without permission. Proton Scribe is mainly targeting businesses who want to keep their private communications private. According to a Proton survey, more than 75% of the company's business users said they are interested in generative AI tools, but most were also concerned about a lack of data protections. The Swiss company's mantra seems to be, "I can do everything Google can do -- but without stealing your data." The catch is that, because Scribe doesn't train on your personal data, it is naturally less personalised. The emails it writes will likely be quite generic. This is why the company added the features mentioned earlier that allow you to change the tone and edit and proofread before pressing send. Those on a Proton Business plan can try Proton Scribe for free for 14 days. After that, the tool costs $3 per month per user.

Proton launches 'privacy-first' AI writing assistant for email that runs on-device | TechCrunch

Privacy app maker Proton has launched a new AI-enabled writing assistant that helps users compose emails based on simple prompts, while also capable of redrafting and proofreading an existing email before it's sent. The launch sees Proton continue on a trajectory that has seen it replicate many of Google's products and features in the productivity tooling space. Just last month, Google brought its own Gemini AI to Gmail to help users write and summarize emails, and now Proton is following suit with its own flavor. As one might expect with Proton, a Swiss company known for a suite of privacy-centric apps including email, VPN, password manager, calendar, cloud storage, and documents, its new assistant is targeted at those concerned about leaking sensitive data to third-party AI providers. Proton Scribe, as the new tool is called, is built on Mistral 7B, an open source language model from French AI startup Mistral, though Proton says it will likely tinker with this in pursuit of the most optimum model for this use-case. Additionally, Proton says that it's making Scribe available under an open source GPL-3.0 license, making it easier for third-party security and privacy audits. Proton Scribe can be deployed entirely at a local level, meaning user data doesn't leave the device. Moreover, Proton promises that its AI assistant won't learn from user data, which is particularly important in enterprise use-cases where privacy is paramount. The problem that Proton is striving to address here is real -- businesses have been slower to embrace the generative AI revolution due to data privacy concerns. And this early iteration of Proton Scribe could go some way toward appeasing such concerns. "We realised that irrespective of whether or not Proton builds AI tools, users are going to use AI, often with significant privacy consequences," Yen said. "Rather than have users copying their sensitive communications into third-party AI tools that often have appalling privacy practices, it would be better to instead build privacy-first AI tools directly into Proton Mail." For the less security-conscious, Scribe can also be configured to run via Proton's servers, which should mean it will run faster, depending on users' own hardware. For those wanting to run Proton Scribe locally, they are prompted to download the model once to their machine, from which point the AI Model runs directly on-device without ever having to interact with external servers. For those that run this on Proton's servers, the company is quick to stress that no logs are kept and no data is shared with third-parties. "Only the prompt entered by the user is transmitted to the server, and no data is ever retained after the email draft is created," a company spokesperson told TechCrunch. With Proton Scribe set up, users can type in a prompt, such as "request samples from a supplier," and then hit the generate button. Proton Scribe then spits out a template email based on the theme provided, and the user can edit and fine-tune what comes out. With these privacy-centric provisions, there is at least one notable trade-off. Given that Proton Scribe doesn't use any local data, its responses won't be particularly personalized or contextual -- they will likely be generic, a point that Proton conceded to TechCrunch. However, it said this is why it has added additional features which it calls "quick actions" designed to make it easy for users to edit the drafts, such as changing the tone, proofreading, and making it more concise. "Over time, we will look to improve Proton Scribe, adding context etc, but all in a privacy-preserving way," Proton said in a statement. While Proton Scribe is limited to email for now, the company said it may expand the tool to its other products in the future "depending on demand," one obvious integration being its recently-launched collaborative document editing app. Starting today, Proton's writing assistant will be available for Proton Mail on the web and desktop, though the company confirmed that it will look to expand the tool to mobile devices in the future. And in terms of costs, Proton Scribe is mostly targeted at business users, with those on either the Mail Essentials, Mail Professional, or Proton Business Suite able to pay an extra $2.99 per month to access the writing assistant. Additionally, those on one of Proton's legacy and limited-availability plans such as Visionary or Lifetime will also be given access to Proton Scribe for free. The company said that it may expand the feature to other consumer plans in the future.

Proton promises that its Scribe AI writing assistant won't mishandle your data

If you want to boost your productivity with AI but are concerned about privacy, Proton's new writing assistant is here to help. Proton today launched Proton Scribe, an AI writing assistant powered by privacy-protecting localized artificial intelligence (AI). Proton Scribe is integrated with Proton Mail to help you compose emails based on a single prompt. The assistant can also proofread your content and correct spelling and grammar with a single click. Also: ChatGPT vs. Microsoft Copilot vs. Gemini: Which is the best AI chatbot? The arguably most important aspect of Proton Scribe is privacy. Proton has created Scribe with a unique local AI approach, meaning prompts aren't sent to a cloud service. Instead, everything happens on your devices. You can also opt for Proton's secure "no log" servers. Many users are concerned that various AI services are using their content to train large language models and mishandling their data. Those concerns appear valid in an age where data is often sold to the highest bidder. Also: The best VPN services (and how to choose the right one for you) The Proton Scribe announcement doesn't mince words: "With other AI models made popular in recent months, data is regularly mishandled and misappropriated with no ability to opt out of data harvesting and AI training. People are rightfully concerned about the privacy implications. In a recent survey of Proton users, 79% of business users said they didn't want their private data used to train AI. Despite this, 60% of users had or would like to use AI, rising to 75% of business users. An AI writing assistant was one of the most highly demanded features." Proton says its AI is not trained on data from its users' inboxes. That process would be impossible due to the zero-access encryption used by its email service. Proton has also created a policy of never retaining data typed into Proton Scribe. No data is shared with third parties because Proton developed the new service in its entirety. Also: How your business can best exploit AI: Tell your board these 4 things Proton founder Andy Yen said of Scribe: "Rather than have users copying their sensitive communications into third-party AI tools that often have appalling privacy practices, it would be better to instead build privacy-first AI tools directly into Proton Mail. However, we wanted to do this in a uniquely Proton way, enabled by our business model that relies on the user being in control of their data, rather than the platform exploiting it." Initially, Proton Scribe will be available to Proton Mail business customers for $2.99/user/month (after a 14-day free trial). All Proton Visionary and Lifetime subscribers will get Proton Scribe for free. Proton is rolling out the feature to Proton Mail web and desktop apps. To find out more about Proton Scribe, read the official blog post.

Proton Mail Wants to Write Your Emails for You

Your favorite privacy-focused service is joining the AI bandwagon. Proton Mail now features an AI writing assistant called Scribe. It promises to help you write and revise emails without collecting your personal data. Scribe works like any other AI writing assistant. Give it a prompt, and it generates text. Ask it to revise or proof-read your email draft, and it will do so. Similar tools are built into Gmail and Outlook. The thing that makes Scribe special is that it doesn't collect or transmit data. It runs locally on your device and is bound by end-to-end encryption, meaning that interactions with Scribe will never be seen by Proton or any other companies (barring some catastrophic security failure, of course). There's also an option to access Scribe through a "secure, no logs-server." This option is probably intended for users who log into Proton mail from a work computer or a public workstation. (The server-based approach may also be required when using Proton Mail in a web browser -- Proton hasn't clarified this particular point). Close "Proton Scribe is not trained on data from users' inboxes, and it would be impossible for it to do so due to Proton's zero-access encryption. Proton has a policy of never retaining any data that users type into Proton Scribe. It is built, operated and run by Proton, meaning that no data is shared with any third parties, and there is no "partnership" with outside firms like OpenAI. Proton Scribe has been developed on top of open-source models and is itself open-source, allowing for independent privacy and security audits to take place." And, to my relief, Proton is keen on avoiding some of the less-than-obvious problems that often come with AI integration. Customers who want to use Scribe do not need to agree to a new privacy policy, for example, and third parties like OpenAI are not affiliated with this project in any way. The AI is based on open-source models and is itself open-source. I assume that a lot of Proton's customers will disable Scribe (which is allowed, by the way). Generative AI has ushered in a new era of data collection that many people see as a threat to personal privacy, so some pushback makes sense. That said, the whole sales pitch behind Proton is that it offers Google-like services without compromising user privacy. If you already trust Proton's email, password management, or cloud storage services, I'm not sure why you'd be afraid of Scribe. Proton Scribe is currently limited to Business, Visionary, and Lifetime subscribers. The AI only works in Proton Mail, though I assume that it'll roll out to Proton Docs at some point in the future, for better or worse. Source: Proton