BAT Up Nearly 5% as Brave Introduces Leo AI Assistant for Desktop Users

Privacy-focused Brave Browser announced on Thursday the launch of its dedicated AI assistant, Leo, over the next few days. The AI system seeks to revolutionalize users’ browsing experiences. Following the announcement, Brave’s native cryptocurrency, BAT, jumped by nearly 5%.

Brave Browser Debuts Leo

Leo is a built-in AI assistant that was originally launched in August on Brave Nightly, the browser’s testing and development platform. At the time, developers and testers were allowed to explore Leo’s functionality and support its development for public use.

Fast forward to three months later, Brave will now roll out Leo initially for desktop users only. The AI assistant will be debuted on Android and iOS devices over the coming months.

Described as a “powerful, privacy-preserving tool,” Leo makes users’ browsing experience easier through several tasks – summarizing websites and videos, answering questions, translating, and rewriting page contents.

To use the chat-based AI assistant, users need to open the Brave browser on their desktop devices. In the URL bar, they can type their questions or commands and select “Ask Leo” from the suggestions to tap into the generative prowess of the Brave-branded AI system.

Leo is trained on Meta’s large language model (LLM), Llama 2. Large language models are deep learning systems that are pre-trained on large amounts of data. OpenAI’s ChatGPT is a common example of an LLM. Despite being built on an LLM, Brave noted that Leo will not record chat history or use it for “model training.”

Brave adds that users’ chats with Leo will be “private, anonymous, and secure.”

The built-in AI assistant will be free for users. However, the premium package pegged at $15 per month, will unlock certain features. For example, premium users can use other LLMs like Claude, an AI assistant by tech startup Anthropic, to generate higher-quality responses.

Commenting on such integration, Anthropic’s Head of Product, Matt Bell, said:

“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.”