DuckDuckGo gives access to AI chatbots, pledging anonymity and privacy

DuckDuckGo, known for its private search engine and other products like private email services, is reportedly integrating access to OpenAI’s GPT 3.5, Claude 3 Haiku, and the open-source Meta Llama 3 and Mixtral 8X7B. While the company states it will continue to focus on products, that protect user privacy, it is also embracing AI technology, claiming that this new venture will not infringe on user privacy.

Unlike other platforms, DuckDuckGo has promised that user interactions with its chatbots remain anonymous by default, making sure users’ privacy and chats are kept in-house. ChatGPT users, on the other hand, must actively click a toggle to prevent their queries from being used to train the AI system.

NEW: ✨Access popular AI chatbots privately with DuckDuckGo AI Chat. We support Open AI’s GPT 3.5 Turbo, Anthropic’s Claude 3 Haiku, and two open-source models, with more to come. It’s separate from Private Search, free, and can easily be switched off.https://t.co/dQgxLCxbBr 🦆

— DuckDuckGo (@DuckDuckGo) June 7, 2024

Does DuckDuckGo have AI?

DuckDuckGo won’t have its own chatbot but will use other companies’ products to fill the gap. However, it states that it will continue to protect user privacy. The service serves as a middleman, relaying your queries to the designated chatbot. As a result, the chatbot only records DuckDuckGo’s IP address, not yours. In a blog post on their site, it states: “DuckDuckGo AI Chat is an anonymous way to access popular AI chatbots…Chats are private, anonymized by us, and are not used for any AI model training.”

Just like searches on DuckDuckGo, all chats are anonymous and can’t be traced back to you. Find out more: https://t.co/RjSzPaprMB

— DuckDuckGo (@DuckDuckGo) June 7, 2024

However, there are a few caveats. The company warns that its supported models might temporarily store user conversations to provide responses. DuckDuckGo added that it strips all metadata from the logs and guarantees that, under their agreements for constructing these AI chats, all data is deleted from servers within 30 days.

The app is already available, though it has a daily usage cap for its free version. The company plans to launch a premium version that will give access to more sophisticated models. Users can explore the tools on duck.ai or via the top bar on DuckDuckGo’s search engine.

The company also said that improvements are already on the way. DuckDuckGo added: “Our roadmap includes adding more chat models and browser entry points. We’re also exploring a paid plan for access to higher daily usage limits and more advanced models.”

Featured image: DuckDuckGo