Brave’s native artificial intelligence browser assistant, Leo, is here, and it’s already making heads turn with its functionality and features. Leo’s only available on Nightly, Brave’s testing and development browser version.

Even though Leo’s constantly being trained, it does not mean you can’t use it to have some fun, just like ChatGPT. Leo will take on its competition with an extra pinch of security as its USP. If you want to give Leo a whirl in its testing phase, head over to the Brave's Nightly browser and start using the chatbot for free.

What Is Brave’s Leo AI Text Assistant?

Brave’s Leo is an independent chat assistant without having a bearing on other third-party AI software/services. It runs on Llama 2, Meta’s Large Language Model (LLM). Despite no dependency on third-party services, Brave has kept safety at its core, and even Leo ensures customer information is always safe.

Given its features and challenges, Leo, as a text assistant, is adept at simulating conversations with humans, making it a good choice for Brave's regular users.

How to Download and Set Up Brave’s Leo

You can download Leo on your machine, depending on your OS. Here are a few ways to download Brave on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

How to Install Brave Nightly Browser on Windows

To install Brave's Nightly browser on Windows, follow the steps below:

1. Head over to the Brave Nightly website.

2. Click on the Download Nightly for Windows 64-bit button.
3. Once the file downloads, fire it up and follow the on-screen instructions to install the browser file on your Windows machine.
4. Post installation, as soon as the browser interface opens, you will get the following prompts:
   1. Set Brave as the Default Browser.
   2. Import Settings.
   3. Help make Brave better.

You can choose the skip option or continue setting these up per your requirements. Once done, click on Finish.

Download: Brave Nightly for Windows (Free)

How to Install Brave Nightly Browser on macOS

To install the Brave Nightly browser on macOS, you can follow these steps:

1. Open Brave's Nightly website to download the installation file.
2. Click on the hyperlinked text below the Download Nightly for Windows 64-bit button.
3. Once the executable file is available, hold and drag the file into your Applications. Wait for the file to copy over.
4. Look for the Brave's browser in the menu list. Double-click on the application to open it.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete any pending installation steps, and you are all set to start using it.

Download: Brave Nightly for macOS (Free)

How to Install Brave Nightly Browser on Linux

To install the Nightly browser on Ubuntu and Debian OSes, use the steps below to install it in a few easy steps:

The curl command is integral in installing the Nightly version on Linux. You can use this command to download and install the keys with their respective packages, which will help your system interact easily with Brave's software repos.

 sudo curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-nightly-archive-keyring.gpg https://brave-browser-apt-nightly.s3.brave.com/brave-browser-nightly-archive-keyring.gpg 

Once you have downloaded the keys, add Nightly's repo to the /etc/apt/sources.list.d folder.

 echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-nightly-archive-keyring.gpg arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-nightly.s3.brave.com/ stable main"|sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-nightly.list 

After you add the repos, it's time to update your system with the apt update and the upgrade commands.

 sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y 

Finally, it's time to install Brave's Nightly browser on your Linux machine with the following command:

 sudo apt install brave-browser-nightly 

Download: Brave Nightly for Linux (Free)

How to Access Brave's Leo From the Browser

Once Leo is installed and available on Brave Nightly, you need to follow the steps below to access it:

1. Launch the Brave Nightly browser on your machine.
2. You will notice a set of icons on the right side of your browser. You can find the icon for Leo by hovering over the icons.
3. Click on the icon to launch it. Accept the terms and conditions by clicking the Accept and Begin button.

4. The chat prompt opens once you click the button, allowing you to interact with Leo. You can ask any question, just like you would within any other artificial intelligence-enabled chat engine.

Brave's Leo Structure Explained

Like ChatGPT, Bard, or any other text assistant, even Leo is built on an open large language model (LLM) Llama 2, powered by Microsoft and Meta. Some other specifications include the following:

1. Natural Language Processing (NLP): The chat assistant is powered by Natural Language Processing models, which help it understand and assimilate human commands, language, and commonly used terms. Since NLP is used for bridging the distance between a computer and a human, it has found widespread use within the world of AI.
2. Machine Learning: Leo is trained on various text datasets to help it improve its answers and widen its knowledge base. With machine learning algorithms under its belt, it can access knowledge repositories and build upon user interactions to understand the question's intent and answer in a relevant manner.

As per Brave's developers:

We’ve specifically tuned the model prompt to adhere to Brave’s core values. However, as with any other LLM, the outputs of the model should be treated with care for potential inaccuracies or errors.

What Does Brave’s Leo AI Chatbot Offer?

As expected, Leo's AI features are something to reckon with. Its list of features is as follows:

1. Summarization Qualities: Why go through extensive website content when your browser can provide a crisp, summarized gist in just a few clicks? That's right; Leo's ability to summarize a website's contents is a handy feature. Brave's text assistant offers you plenty of opportunities to summarize the entire search criteria or the content on individual web pages.

2. Helpful Answers: You can seek answers from Leo, Brave's browser AI assistant, whenever you have questions. Like ChatGPT, even Leo provides accurate solutions. Since it's still in the testing phase, there is a lot of ground for it to cover. Nonetheless, after the final release of the stable version, Leo will become a preferred AI tool for Brave's users.
3. Flag security issues: Since Brave browser is known for its security preferences, the utmost focus is always on keeping users safe and secure. If you notice a security breach or any inherent issues within Brave or its dependent components, you can flag it to Leo, and it will raise it to the concerned teams for rectification. Leo, unlike ChatGPT, does not record your previous conversations; whenever you reload your chat, you start your conversations afresh.

Limitations of Brave’s Leo

Despite all the positive elements of Leo, there are a few inherent limitations that you need to keep in mind. Here are a few things to look out for:

1. Limited Knowledge: Leo's developers have issued a caveat regarding its knowledge and answer-sharing model. While its training is extensive, there are still a few things Leo might need to learn about. Since the underlying AI model grows with interactions, it's yet to develop to its fullest potential.
2. Ability to Reason: It's essential to remember that Leo is a text-based AI assistant at the end of the day. At the same time, it can provide answers and solid matches for your questions, but can't react and provide arguments like a human. In short, its ability to reason is limited in scope.
3. No Experience With Sarcasm and Humor: Leo is an artificial intelligence-driven assistant and should not be considered more than that. There are limited inputs, which do not include access to sarcasm or humor.

Leo AI, Brave’s Text Assistant, Competes Against Other Options

Let's face it: plenty of new AI tools appear daily. Brave isn't far behind, for Leo is its answer to its competitors. Despite being in training, it continues to garner attention from the browser's users, who are keen to see what final features Leo brings within the stable version.