Jolla, transitioning from mobile manufacturing to a privacy-centric AI company through its startup Venho.ai, has unveiled a new AI assistant. This “fully private” alternative directly challenges data-mining tech giants by prioritizing user privacy. The assistant integrates with common applications like email, calendar, and social media, empowering users with conversational AI capabilities.
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This AI-powered tool goes beyond information retrieval, enabling actions like summarizing emails and documents, scheduling meetings, filtering social media content, and conducting web searches. Jolla plans to extend functionality through on-the-fly AI agent creation, leveraging available API keys. An AI agent marketplace is scheduled to launch next month, further expanding the ecosystem.
The assistant is envisioned as a versatile tool for shopping and personal reminders. Users can research purchases or delegate note-taking to the AI, ensuring secure storage of personal information without feeding data to large corporations.
Jolla’s approach involves proprietary AI hardware developed over the past year. This hardware, previously referred to as “AI agents in a box,” supports locally hosted smaller AI models for data management. Preprocessing and a vector database unify data from linked accounts, optimizing query speed and user experience. The AI assistant software manages this backend, seamlessly switching between AI agents as needed.
Decentralized AI: A Disruptive Opportunity
At Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Jolla co-founder Antti Saarnio and veteran Sami Pienimäki presented this technology. They believe a decentralized AI operating system presents a significant opportunity for startups. This system could disrupt established cloud providers as generative AI reshapes software usage and development. Jolla’s focus on local processing minimizes reliance on cloud-based services, addressing growing privacy concerns.
This strategy allows for personalized AI experiences without compromising user data. By combining specialized hardware with privacy-focused software, Jolla aims to provide a secure and efficient alternative to existing AI solutions. The company’s vision extends beyond individual users, targeting potential applications in various sectors where data privacy is paramount. The upcoming AI agent marketplace will be crucial in fostering a broader ecosystem and expanding the platform’s capabilities.
