**The Truth About AI Assistants and Your Private Life: A New Player in Town**
Let’s face it, when it comes to AI-powered chat buddies like ChatGPT and Claude, it’s natural to feel a little uneasy about sharing our deepest thoughts and secrets with a company that can monetize our conversations. The thought of our personal data being used to fuel advertising can be downright chilling, especially when you consider the kinds of companies behind these services.
Enter Moxie Marlinspike, the Sign co-founder who’s shaking things up with his new project, Confer. This AI assistant is designed to give you the same conversational experience as ChatGPT, but with a serious focus on keeping your conversations private.
So, how does Confer keep your secrets safe? For starters, it uses a system called WebAuthn passkey to encrypt all messages to and from the system. And when it comes to processing those conversations on the server side, Confer uses a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) to keep everything secure. Plus, there are remote attestation techniques in place to detect any potential vulnerabilities.
**A Safer Conversation**
Marlinspike’s main concern is the intrusive nature of these AI-powered chatbots. “It’s a type of technology that actively invites confession,” he says. “When you combine that with advertising, it’s like someone paying your therapist to persuade you to buy something.” That’s not exactly the kind of therapy I’m comfortable with.
Moxie’s solution, Confer, is a more expensive option, with a free tier limited to 20 messages a day and 5 active chats, while a paid plan of $35 a month gets you unlimited access, plus more advanced models and personalization. It’s a bit steeper than ChatGPT’s Plus plan, but if you’re serious about keeping your conversations private, it might be worth it.
Want to read more about Confer? Check out the full article on TechCrunch: [Source link](https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/18/moxie-marlinspike-has-a-privacy-conscious-alternative-to-chatgpt/)
