Big Tech ruined the cloud, so we're renaming ours

Big Tech has tainted the perception of cloud services with their practices, prompting a shift in how we see and use online services. This prompted a change at Nabu Casa, the company behind Home Assistant hardware and services, as they renamed their cloud service. Carl, Navu Casa's Vice President of Commercial, explained the decision, stating that the old name didn't fit with their values and the service's purpose.

Home Assistant began as a passion project for a group of developers, but as it grew, it needed a sustainable model. Home Assistant Cloud was created to make Home Assistant more accessible and sustainable, with profits from subscriptions funding the Open Home Foundation. The company decided to rename the service to Home Assistant Link, as it better represents what the service does - making Home Assistant easier to use and more private, without requiring users to run it in the cloud.

The company emphasized that users don't need Link to use Home Assistant, and it offers additional features that are optional. They also highlighted their commitment to privacy, transparency, and user control, contrasting it with Big Tech's practices. Despite the name change, Home Assistant remains a community-driven project, and the company values its users and will continue to improve the service based on community feedback.