Proton Lumo 2.0 image generation is here, and it’s the headline feature in Proton’s biggest update yet to its privacy-focused AI assistant. Lumo can now create, edit, and analyze images. On top of that, it gets a faster reasoning engine and a private web search tool.
Every image conversation stays behind Proton’s zero-access encryption. That’s the same protection used across Proton’s other apps. As a result, images and prompts stay on your device. In fact, Proton says nobody else can read them, not even Proton itself.
What’s actually new
Lumo can generate images from a text prompt or a rough sketch. Then it can edit them: swap backgrounds, change colors, remove objects. It can also analyze and describe images you upload. Overall, Proton frames this as catching up to mainstream tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. After all, those tools have offered image generation for years.
The bigger change may be under the hood, though. Lumo 2.0 adds a “thinking mode” for multi-step reasoning. Meanwhile, a faster default mode handles everyday questions. Proton says that mode answers 76% quicker than Lumo 1.4. Additionally, a new memory system remembers your preferences across sessions. A “Projects” feature, for instance, gives you a dedicated encrypted workspace for ongoing work. Finally, custom Lumos let you build a purpose-built assistant that keeps its instructions between chats.
Proton also overhauled web search. Now, Lumo pulls live results with source citations covering news, financial data, and weather. As a result, Proton says this cuts down on hallucinated answers.
Image: Proton
The benchmark claims
Proton points to the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index to back its performance claims. On that index, Lumo 1.4 scored 15. Meanwhile, Lumo 2.0 Lite jumped to 34, a 127% gain. Lumo 2.0 Max climbed even further, to 51, up 240%. Still, those are Proton’s own reported numbers. So far, Tech My Money has not independently verified them.
Proton CEO Andy Yen went further in the announcement. He said “the gap has closed to the point that for many use cases, users can no longer perceive a qualitative difference between Lumo 2.0 Max and the latest models from OpenAI and Anthropic.” Admittedly, that’s a bold claim from a company selling the model. So, treat it as marketing until outside benchmarks weigh in.
Image: Proton
Pricing and availability
Core Lumo 2.0 features stay free. For heavier use, Lumo Plus costs $10 a month and adds unlimited chats, Projects, advanced image generation, and priority access to the bigger models. Beyond that, Proton also offers Lumo Professional for teams that need secure collaboration.
Lumo 2.0 is live now on the web at lumo.proton.me, plus iOS and Android apps. Under the hood, Proton runs it on European infrastructure under Swiss privacy law. And since the code is open source, anyone can check its claims. That’s the same pitch Proton makes with Proton Mail: fewer features than the market leader, but nothing you send becomes training data or ad-targeting fuel. Still, whether Lumo’s image tools hold up against dedicated apps remains to be seen, especially since Google shut down its own Pixel Studio image generator earlier this year.
