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

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’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. 

Just pulled up my tax return in @Google Docs–and unbidden, Gemini summarized it. So…Gemini is automatically ingesting even the private docs I open in Google Docs? WTF, guys. I didn’t ask for this. Now I have to go find new settings I was never told about to turn this crap off.

— Kevin Bankston (@KevinBankston) July 10, 2024

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.