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Title: Meta has a plan to bring AI to WhatsApp chats without breaking privacy

Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2025 19:35:56 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-ha...

As MetaΓÇÖs first-ever generative AI conference gets underway, the company is
also previewing a significant update on its plans to bring AI features to
WhatsApp chats. Buried in its LlamaCon updates, the company shared that
itΓÇÖs working on something called ΓÇ£Private Processing,ΓÇ¥ which will allow
users to take advantage of generative AI capabilities within WhatsApp without
eroding its privacy features.

According to Meta, Private Processing is an ΓÇ£optional capabilityΓÇ¥ that
will enable people to ΓÇ£leverage AI capabilities for things like summarizing
unread messages or refining them, while keeping messages private.ΓÇ¥
WhatsApp, of course, is known for its strong privacy protections and end-to-
end encryption. That would seem incompatible with cloud-based AI features
like Meta AI. But Private Processing will essentially allow Meta to do both.

Meta has shared more details about how it will accomplish this over on its
engineering blog but, as Wired points out, itΓÇÖs a similar model as
AppleΓÇÖs Private Cloud Compute (which allows the iPhone maker to implement
Apple AI without sending all your data to the cloud). HereΓÇÖs how Meta
describes its approach.

WeΓÇÖre excited to share an initial overview of Private Processing, a new
technology weΓÇÖve built to support peopleΓÇÖs needs and aspirations to
leverage AI in a secure and privacy-preserving way. This confidential
computing infrastructure, built on top of a Trusted Execution Environment
(TEE), will make it possible for people to direct AI to process their
requests ΓÇö like summarizing unread WhatsApp threads or getting writing
suggestions ΓÇö in our secure and private cloud environment. In other words,
Private Processing will allow users to leverage powerful AI features, while
preserving WhatsAppΓÇÖs core privacy promise, ensuring no one except you and
the people youΓÇÖre talking to can access or share your personal messages,
not even Meta or WhatsApp.

The company seems well-aware such a plan will likely be met with skepticism.
WhatsApp is regularly targeted by bad actors as it is. To address inevitable
concerns from the security community, the company says it will allow security
researchers and others to audit Private Processing, and will make the
technology part of its bug bounty program that rewards people who find
security vulnerabilities in its services.

ItΓÇÖs not clear when generative AI features may actually be available in
WhatsApp chats ΓÇö the company describes its announcement today as merely a
ΓÇ£first lookΓÇ¥ at the technology ΓÇö but it does note that Private
Processing and ΓÇ£similar infrastructureΓÇ¥ could have use cases beyond its
messaging app.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-ha...
chats-without-breaking-privacy-193556026.html?src=rss

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