Finnish startup Jolla, formerly a mobile maker, has taken the wraps off its latest innovation – a "fully private" AI assistant designed to provide users with a conversational power tool that integrates with various apps and performs tasks on their behalf, all while keeping personal data out of the hands of cloud giants.

The AI assistant, dubbed Mindy, is capable of summarizing emails and documents, booking meetings, filtering social media feeds, and performing web look-ups, among other tasks. What sets it apart from existing virtual assistants is its decentralized approach, which relies on smaller, locally hosted AI models to manage data tasks, rather than relying on cloud-based services.

According to Jolla co-founder Antti Saarnio, the AI assistant is part of a broader vision to create a decentralized AI operating system that disrupts the dominance of cloud giants. Saarnio believes that the unfolding startup opportunity lies in developing an AI system that prioritizes user privacy and control.

The AI assistant software, which will be available as a subscription service hosted on a private cloud operated by Venho.ai, is set to launch imminently. Users will be able to customize the avatar, dubbed Mindy, to their own tastes. In a demo, TechCrunch saw Saarnio interacting with the AI assistant, which responded to queries via text and speech.

While the AI assistant is designed to work seamlessly with Jolla's proprietary AI hardware, which has been shipping to early adopters since January, users will also have the option to self-host the AI assistant on the Mind2 device, eliminating the need for third-party cloud services. This approach allows users to instruct the AI how they want it to work for them, further customizing the experience to their comfort zone.

Early bird pricing for the AI Assistant is set at $10 per month, with a 14-day free trial, although the final price will be around $20 per month. The 16GB RAM, 128GB memory Mind2 device has a full price tag of €699, although early adopters can still take advantage of a discount price.

In addition to offering the AI assistant via its own private cloud, the tool will also be made available on the Mind2 Jolla AI device next month. This means Mind2 owners will be able to self-host the AI assistant on this personal server-style hardware, jettisoning the need to use any third-party cloud service to hold their data.

The team behind Jolla believes there's an interesting B2B opportunity emerging, particularly with telcos who see potential for the hardware to offer a home hub-style solution that could work well for multiple family members living under one roof.

With around 500 Mind2 devices shipped to early adopters, Jolla is tapping into interest from the Sailfish enthusiast community and getting useful feedback and help with bug fixes through a Discord community. As Saarnio notes, this approach is one he would recommend to any startup.

As Jolla continues to push the boundaries of AI innovation, its efforts hold up an enticing possibility that the reborn startup's endeavors might have the chance to revive former Finnish tech glories, reminiscent of the Sailfish OS, which was developed as a fork of an abandoned Nokia software project by ex-staffers.