We build AI the slow way.
Lume is a seven-person studio split between Brooklyn and Lisbon. We started in 2024 because we were tired of AI tools that felt loud, anxious, and designed to be used 14 hours a day.
Our belief
Most software is built to maximize attention. We think the best tools do the opposite — they finish the job and then disappear. AI gives us a rare chance to make software that respects your time. We don't want to waste it.
The team
We're researchers, designers, and engineers who've worked at places like Anthropic, Notion, Figma, and DeepMind — and at smaller studios you've probably never heard of. We meet in person every six weeks. The rest of the time we write a lot of memos.
Facts & figures
Principles
- Calm by default. No badges, streaks, or notifications without a reason.
- Local first. Your work lives on your machine. The cloud is opt-in.
- Memos over meetings. If it can be written, it should be.
- Ship, then refine. Better a small thing in your hands than a big thing in a deck.
- Respect attention. Software should earn the time it takes.
Where we're going
Over the next year, we're focused on shipping Lume Notes to general availability, opening up our API to a small group of developers, and publishing a short series of essays on what calm AI looks like in practice.