No, you don't need Internet connection to run SafeChat if you select to use local models. You need Internet connection to download the app and models during setup. However, once you finish setting up, there is no need to have Internet connection if you are using local models.
You can run it on pretty any machines with Windows 10 or 11! The app needs minimum 8GB memory and 20GB free space for small model, 16GB or higher memory for standard and large model, and we recommend machines with GPU. See GPU recommendation FAQ.
GPU is not required but highly recommended. SafeChat uses Ollama, which supports NVIDIA and AMD GPUs with a compute capability of 5 or higher. For NVIDIA, this includes models like the RTX 40x0 and 30x0 series, as well as some older cards like the GTX 1650 Ti and GTX 750 Ti. For AMD, popular supported cards include the Radeon RX 6000 and 7000 series, and the Vega 64.
All local models are using an AI model that is downloaded to your machine, and the chat data will be kept locally. The model size are difference, larger model typically yields better results but also requires more memory and takes longer.
To use OpenAI models, you need an API key, which acts like a password to access their services. You can log in to your OpenAI account and access the API key management section through your profile. For more details, refer to the following OpenAI article: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/4936850-where-do-i-find-my-openai-api-key
Local model lets you safely keep all data on your local drive, while OpenAI models require Internet connection and your questions will be sent over to OpenAI. If you need total control, we recommend using one of the local models.
At the moment, we use LLAMA 3 and 3.2 models with Ollama, the model license agreement can be found here: https://www.llama.com/llama3_2/license/ https://www.llama.com/llama3/license/
The Ollama license can be found here: https://github.com/ollama/ollama/blob/main/LICENSE
At the moment SafeChat supports the following file formats: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, PDF, Text