I (Briefly) Tried Proton Lumo’s New AI Workspaces

Proton Lumo AI Assistant Takes a Quantum Leap with Projects: Your Privacy-First Workspace Revolution

In a move that’s sending shockwaves through the AI assistant landscape, Proton—the Swiss privacy juggernaut behind ProtonMail and ProtonVPN—has just unleashed Projects, a groundbreaking feature that transforms its Lumo AI assistant from a simple chatbot into a sophisticated, encrypted workspace powerhouse.

The Privacy-First Paradigm Shift

When Proton’s Lumo AI chat assistant first emerged in September 2025, it immediately captured the attention of privacy-conscious users worldwide. In an era where tech giants routinely harvest user data like digital gold miners, Lumo offered something revolutionary: an AI assistant that actually respects your privacy.

Unlike its Silicon Valley counterparts that treat your conversations as training data or sell your information to the highest bidder, Lumo operates under Proton’s ironclad zero-access encryption. This means your conversations, files, and intellectual property remain yours and yours alone—Proton can’t even access them if they wanted to.

Projects: The Game-Changing Feature

With the Lumo 1.3 release, Proton has elevated its AI assistant to compete directly with industry heavyweights like ChatGPT’s Projects, Claude’s Projects, and Gemini’s Workspaces. But here’s the kicker: Proton does it without compromising the privacy principles that made Lumo special in the first place.

Projects allows users to create dedicated encrypted workspaces where you can consolidate related chats, upload relevant files, and establish custom instructions—all under one secure umbrella. Whether you’re crafting a research paper, developing a business strategy, or engaging in deep philosophical discussions, Projects provides the organizational structure to keep everything coherent and accessible.

Seamless Proton Drive Integration

The integration with Proton Drive is where Projects truly shines. Users can attach relevant files and folders directly to any workspace, creating a centralized hub for all project-related materials. And because Proton Drive employs the same zero-access encryption as Lumo, your documents remain secure throughout the entire workflow.

This integration transforms Lumo from a simple conversational AI into a comprehensive productivity suite. Imagine drafting a legal document while referencing uploaded case files, or developing a marketing strategy while analyzing competitor data—all within an encrypted environment that shields your intellectual property from prying eyes.

Real-World Performance: More Than Just Promises

To test Projects’ capabilities, I created a whimsical workspace where I instructed Lumo to adopt a nonchalant, cat-like persona to help solve philosophical dilemmas. The results were impressive. When presented with a fictional scenario involving “Goodpeople Land” threatened by an evil force, Lumo generated a thoughtful five-point action plan that demonstrated genuine reasoning capabilities.

The real test came when I introduced a superweapon threat and uploaded a dummy PDF with technical specifications via Proton Drive. Lumo not only processed the information but provided strategic recommendations for defense—all while maintaining context and coherence throughout the conversation.

The Interface: Familiar Yet Powerful

Projects maintains Lumo’s clean, intuitive interface while adding powerful organizational features. The sidebar navigation provides quick access to existing projects, uploaded files, and project management tools. Within each project, users can review past conversations and initiate new ones through a familiar chat interface.

A particularly useful feature is the “Chat knowledge” panel, which displays uploaded files and remaining storage capacity for each conversation. This transparency helps users manage their resources effectively while keeping track of what information the AI can access.

Current Limitations and Future Potential

While Projects represents a significant advancement, it’s worth noting that Lumo still lacks image analysis capabilities—a feature available in competing AI assistants. However, considering Lumo’s relatively recent debut, this omission is understandable and likely temporary.

The foundation Proton has built with Projects positions Lumo for rapid evolution. As the AI continues to mature, we can expect additional features like image processing, enhanced file format support, and even more sophisticated organizational tools.

Accessibility and Pricing

Proton has structured Projects to be accessible to users at all levels. Free users can create one project, providing a taste of the feature’s capabilities. Lumo Plus subscribers unlock unlimited projects, access to more advanced AI models, and faster response times—making it an attractive option for power users and professionals.

The Privacy Revolution Continues

What makes Projects truly revolutionary isn’t just its functionality—it’s the fact that it delivers enterprise-grade AI workspace capabilities without sacrificing user privacy. In a market where “free” services typically mean “you are the product,” Proton’s approach represents a fundamental shift in how AI assistants can operate.

As data privacy concerns continue to mount and regulatory scrutiny intensifies, solutions like Projects that prioritize user control and encryption may well define the next generation of AI tools. Proton isn’t just building better software; they’re building a better internet—one where privacy and functionality aren’t mutually exclusive.

Getting Started

Projects is available now to all Lumo users. Simply navigate to the Projects section in the sidebar, click “New project,” and begin organizing your AI-assisted workflows with the confidence that your data remains private and secure.

In an AI landscape dominated by data-hungry giants, Proton’s Projects feature stands as a beacon of what’s possible when privacy and innovation work hand in hand. The future of AI isn’t just about smarter algorithms—it’s about smarter, more ethical approaches to technology that respect user autonomy.

Tags: #ProtonLumo #AIAssistant #PrivacyFirst #ProjectsFeature #ZeroAccessEncryption #ProtonDrive #AIWorkspace #TechInnovation #SwissPrivacy #DataProtection #AIMeetsPrivacy #WorkspaceRevolution #EncryptedAI #DigitalPrivacy #TechNews2025

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