UGREEN’s new local AI hub wants to keep your smart home data out of the cloud

When creating a complete and reliable smart home ecosystem, a traditional smart home hub with basic automations will not be enough. These days, AI-powered hubs do most of their work managing the connection, communication, and coordination of your smart home. Using machine learning, they even learn from connected devices to improve efficiency, convenience and security. But the problem with most AI hubs is that they process their orders through the cloud instead of processing them locally.

UGREEN, a Chinese accessories and electronics brand, also makes a number of smart devices. They have now taken the next step in home automation with UGREEN HomeAgent, a standalone home hub with a built-in local wide language model (LLM) called Uliya. HomeAgent uses Matter, Thread and Wi-Fi protocols to communicate and connect to a wide range of smart gadgets from brands such as Philips Hue, Aqara, SwitchBot, Nanoleaf and Govee. It can run routines between different connected devices, including smart cameras, speakers, photo frames, locks, sensors, lights and blinds, without sending a single command to the cloud.

HomeAgent begins crowdfunding on Kickstarter in October 2026, starting at $899 for the base HA100 model with 16 GB of RAM, 26 teraops (TOPS) of AI processing power and 64 GB of eMMC (storage). However, this is the Super Early Bird price which you will need to reserve for $50. Otherwise, retail pricing starts at $1,799. Shipping begins at the end of January 2027.

Cloud-based AI, whether on your computer, smartphone, or smart hub, should process your orders over the internet. This means it sends your data to the cloud provider’s servers because it doesn’t have the computing power or memory bandwidth to run these AI commands locally. HomeAgent has a neural processing unit (NPU) built into the processor, which functions as Uliya’s brain. Your data stays with you and not on third-party servers, where it could be used to train AI.

Plus, since you don’t need internet, you save on bandwidth costs. You also never have to worry about what will happen if cloud servers go offline or are hacked. However, since your data is with you, its security is in your hands, which means updating the AI ​​smart hub will be of paramount importance. Also make sure to keep your router updated, as hackers can attack the smart hub and other IoT devices through this device.

Smart home hubs with cloud-based AI typically charge a subscription fee for features that require AI. These include AI event summaries, threat detection, keyword searches or natural conversations, with better features locked behind more expensive plans. One example is the Google Nest Hub, which requires a Google Home Premium subscription starting at $10 per month to use Gemini AI. With local LLMs like Uliya, there are no monthly costs or hidden fees… although the upfront costs are substantial.

Although the HomeAgent comes with its own internal storage, it also has three SATA 3.0 bays. Two of them are network-attached storage (NAS) arrays where you can connect SATA solid-state drives (SSDs) or hard drives (HDDs) to expand its storage. The third is a Network Video Recorder (NVR) bay, reserved only for camera images. It also has an M.2 NVMe slot for faster NVMe SSDs. All this to say, you can turn HomeAgent into a functional cloud storage where your memories, entertainment, and security footage stay local and private.

The NAS uses UGREEN’s UGOS Pro cloud operating system. It lets you access your files, manage your drives, and stream music, movies, and photos. It can even run apps, smart home services, and AI tools from your phone or computer. UGOS Pro is accessible remotely and can sync files between your devices. It is essentially a complete private cloud. It also has real-time protection, file version history and restoration, and a vault that protects your sensitive information with strong encryption. And the best part is, none of this is sent to a company’s remote servers, ensuring you have complete control and access without limitations. You can also connect online cloud storage services such as Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox to the device if you need additional storage space. However, it is your choice.