Artificial intelligence is also arriving to the world’s most popular messaging app: WhatsApp is launching an innovative feature that integrates AI while maintaining tight user privacy - summarizing unread messages within a chat using the Meta AI assistant. The tool will allow users to get a quick overview of the main points discussed in conversations they missed - without opening or reading all the messages.
The core of the new technology is based on a mechanism called Private Processing, which allows the AI assistant to operate in the cloud inside a secure virtual environment (Confidential Virtual Machine) via a secure connection, without Meta or WhatsApp being exposed to the actual message content. This way, the platform preserves end-to-end encryption and user privacy even while using artificial intelligence.
The Message Summaries feature is currently available only to English-speaking users in the United States, and no global launch date has yet been announced. It is not enabled by default and must be activated manually. Meanwhile, WhatsApp allows users to choose the level of content sharing with AI through the "Advanced Chat Privacy" setting, which enables blocking AI use in specific chats, prevents chat export, and also prevents media from being saved to the gallery.
The summary appears privately, and only the user will be able to see the gist of the unread messages. According to the company, no party in the chat - including Meta itself - can know that such a summary has been made, thereby preserving anonymity and privacy.
This move comes amid increasing criticism from U.S. government entities, after the U.S. House of Representatives recently announced adding WhatsApp to the list of banned apps for use on official devices due to security concerns. The company maintains that it continues to promote AI solutions while maintaining clear technological boundaries that prevent third-party access to message content.