Online Reporter
LOS ANGELES. — WhatsApp has introduced private chats with its AI chatbot which not even the tech company will be able to read in a new “incognito” mode.
It means neither the user nor the AI’s responses will be monitored if the feature is activated, and past conversations will disappear from the chat for the user.
Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, said he felt people wanted to have private conversations with AI on sensitive subjects including health, relationships and finances and didn’t want them to be accessible.
But a cyber security expert has told the BBC this could lead to a lack of accountability for WhatsApp if things go wrong, as they would have no access to chat history.
WhatsApp is owned by Meta, which also owns Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.
When Meta AI was added to WhatsApp last year, it was criticised by some users angry at not being able to turn it off.
But in May 2025, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg said Meta AI had reached a billion users across its apps.
“We’ve heard from a lot of people that they feel some discomfort about sharing [personal] information with the company, yet they want the answers,” Cathcart said of the latest announcement. —BBC
