What is Proton Scribe?

Proton VP)N logo under a magnifying glass
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Proton, creator of one of the best VPNs, Proton VPN, has announced that its AI writing assistant Proton Scribe is now available in eight new languages and has been expanded to include consumers as well as businesses.

Proton Scribe will also be available to those on the Proton Duo and Proton Family plans.

The privacy-first AI writing assistant will be able to assist users with writing, drafting and proofreading emails in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese and Japanese. Proton has said that new languages will be added to the offering soon, based on user feedback.

A privacy-focused VPN: Proton VPN

A privacy-focused VPN: Proton VPN
For the security-minded, Proton VPN's verified no-logs policy and secure apps are a great choice.

On top of this, it also offers great unblocking and excellent speeds, all from $4.99 a month, or $3.59 per month for Tom's Guide readers.

If you're budget-conscious, however, Proton has a free plan which we've found to be one of the best free VPNs in our testing.

What is Proton Scribe? 

Proton Scribe is an AI-powered writing assistant which is integrated within Proton Mail, one of the best email services.

The writing tool is able to compose emails based on a prompt, as well as shorten and proofread existing text by using natural language processing. It is also able to change the tone of emails to match their intended purpose better.

Proton Scribe works without revealing or collecting sensitive information, which Proton believes is a "privacy imperative". 

Why was Proton Scribe developed? 

Proton created Proton Scribe as a way of giving their users the benefits of AI-powered writing assistants without compromising their privacy or security. As the creator of one of the most secure VPNs, Proton builds all of its products with data minimization in mind.

As a result of these ideals, Proton Scribe is not trained on data from user's inboxes, thanks to Proton Mail's zero-access encryption. It also does not retain any of the data typed into it and does not share any data with third parties. Additionally, it is not always-on – users have to choose to run it.

Users are further put in control of Proton Scribe by having the option to use it locally on desktop or by using its secure, no-logs servers. Currently, users can only access the AI writing assistant in languages other than English by using these servers.

Eamonn Maguire, Head of Machine Learning at Proton, said: "Since launching Proton Scribe to business users, we have seen huge consumer demand for a private way of using AI. Rather than copying sensitive communications into third party AI tools, people can now use these services directly in their inboxes in a privacy-preserving way. 

"At Proton, our mission is to create tools that mean people don’t have to compromise productivity and privacy. With more plans supporting Proton Scribe, and its new additions, we’re making privacy-first AI accessible to even more people."

To find out more information about Proton Scribe, read this blog post

Olivia Powell
Tech Software Commissioning Editor

Olivia joined Tom's Guide in October 2023 as part of the core Future Tech Software team, and is the Commissioning Editor for Tech Software. With a background in cybersecurity, Olivia stays up-to-date with all things cyber and creates content across TechRadar Pro, TechRadar and Tom’s Guide. She is particularly interested in threat intelligence, detection and response, data security, fraud prevention and the ever-evolving threat landscape.