Meet Leo, the AI assistant that respects your privacy

Brave, the browser that blocks ads and trackers by default, has introduced Leo, an AI assistant that promises to deliver “unparalleled privacy” compared to other similar services.

Leo, which has been in testing for several months, is now free for all Brave desktop users who have version 1.60 of the browser. Leo will be gradually rolled out in the next few days and will soon be available on Android and iOS devices.

What can Leo do as an AI assistant?

Leo has many features that are common among other AI assistants like Bing Chat and Google Bard: it can translate languages, answer queries, summarize webpages, and create new content.

However, Brave claims that Leo has an edge over those services because it aligns with the browser’s mission of protecting user privacy. Leo does not record or use the conversations with the users to train AI models, and it does not require any log in information to access it. Brave also warns that Leo’s outputs should be “treated with care for potential inaccuracies or errors.”

How does Leo work as an AI assistant?

Leo uses Meta’s Llama 2 large language model as the default option, which is free for all users. However, Brave also offers Leo Premium, a $15 monthly subscription that gives users access to a different AI language model: Anthropic’s AI assistant, Claude Instant. This is a faster and cheaper version of Anthropic’s Claude 2 large language model, which is known for its high-quality and diverse outputs.

“We’re excited that Brave is going to bring our state-of-the-art large language model Claude Instant directly into their browser. Integrating access to Claude seamlessly within Brave gives users assistance whenever they need it, right in the context of the page they are on,”

“Whether Brave users are analyzing text, editing documents, or writing code, they can now benefit from having personalized help from Claude at any time. This integration unlocks the potential for AI to enhance people’s browsing and productivity in an intuitive, contextual way.”

Matt Bell, Head of Product Research at Anthropic

What are the benefits of Leo Premium?

Leo Premium users will get access to Claude Instant, the faster and lighter model from Anthropic that excels at logical reasoning and coding. The current version of Claude produces longer, more structured responses, follows instructions better than previous versions of Instant, and shows improvements in math, coding, multilingual abilities, and question-answering.

Leo Premium users will also get access to more models in the future, as well as higher rate limits, higher-quality conversations, priority queuing during peak usage, and early access to new features and improvements.

Why choose Leo as an AI assistant?

Brave’s CTO and co-founder, Brian Bondy, said in a press release that “AI can be a powerful tool but it can also present growing concerns for data privacy and there’s a need for a privacy-first solution.” He added that “Brave is committed to pairing AI with user privacy, and will provide our users with secure and personalized AI assistance where they already spend their time online. We’re also thrilled to work with Anthropic to bring Claude’s exceptional conversational abilities to the millions of Brave users worldwide.”

Brave also says that Leo Premium users will have access to more models in the future, as well as higher-quality conversations, priority queuing during peak usage, higher rate limits, and early access to new features. Bondy told The Verge “Leo is built in a way that many different models can be plugged into the feature. We believe that more models will be offered over time and that users should be able to choose among them.”

Leo is Brave’s latest attempt to differentiate itself from other browsers by offering innovative and privacy-friendly features. With Leo, Brave hopes to attract more users who value their data security and want to enjoy the benefits of AI without compromising their privacy.

Can you use Leo offline?

No, you cannot use Leo without an internet connection. It needs to access the internet to perform various tasks such as translating, summarizing, answering questions, and generating content.

Leo also relies on different AI language models that are hosted online, such as Llama 2 and Claude Instant. Therefore, Leo cannot function offline. If you want to use Leo, you need to have a stable internet connection and the latest version of Brave.