Proton CEO outlines path to encrypted AI amid user surge
The encryption company has passed 100 million users, driven by bipartisan concerns over surveillance, while detailing plans for mathematical guarantees in its Lumo chatbot within two years.
Proton CEO Andy Yen has argued that privacy-focused technology companies must develop their own artificial intelligence to prevent a monopoly by large tech giants, stating that AI and privacy can coexist. Yen, who founded the encryption company in 2014 following the Edward Snowden leaks, told WIRED that the industry must accept AI as a permanent fixture and ensure it is stewarded by entities with aligned user interests rather than those reliant on surveillance capitalism.
The company has seen its user base expand to over 100 million, a surge Yen attributes to growing bipartisan concerns regarding corporate and government surveillance. He noted that privacy concerns resonate across the political spectrum, with users seeking protection regardless of which party holds power. This shift in public sentiment has driven demand for Proton’s end-to-end encrypted alternatives to mainstream services such as email, calendar, and file storage.
Central to Yen’s strategy is Lumo, Proton’s AI chatbot, which currently operates on a privacy promise and secure execution environments rather than full end-to-end encryption. Yen explained that while mathematical guarantees are the ideal, the technology for fully encrypted large language models is not yet mature. He anticipates that homomorphic encryption or improved secure enclaves will provide these mathematical guarantees within two years, allowing the company to move beyond reliance on trust-based promises.
Yen also highlighted Proton’s unique organisational structure, where a nonprofit foundation holds controlling shares in the for-profit entity, Proton AG. This arrangement is designed to align business incentives with user privacy, preventing shareholder pressure from compromising the company’s mission. Yen described the model as an experiment to resolve the conflict between profit maximisation and user protection, ensuring the company remains self-sustaining without venture capital influence.
Looking at the broader regulatory landscape, Yen warned that European legislation such as Chat Control undermines the continent’s competitive advantage in digital trust. He argued that Europe’s primary strength lies in its values of democracy and privacy, and that measures promoting endpoint scanning could erode this foundation. Yen cautioned that such laws risk creating a "turnkey tyranny" scenario where surveillance powers established by one administration can be used by future governments against dissenters.
