source: techcrunch ai: whatsapp adds an incognito mode in meta ai chats
level: business
meta is adding an incognito mode for one-on-one chats with its meta ai chatbot inside whatsapp. users can start a session by tapping a new icon. these conversations are processed in a secure environment and cannot be seen by anyone. the feature will also come to the standalone meta ai app. incognito chats are not saved, and messages disappear when the chat is closed, the app is closed, or the phone is locked. meta ai loses the context of that conversation once the session ends.
alice newton-rex, vp of product at whatsapp, said people use ai for private matters like financial or health questions, and the company wants to offer a more private way to ask. whatsapp has been building private processing infrastructure for ai features without breaking end-to-end encryption. earlier features like ai-powered message summaries used smaller models, but incognito chat uses the newer muse spark model released last month. meta is also working on side chat, a feature that lets users privately ask meta ai questions within group chats without others seeing.
the move comes as other services like chatgpt and claude already offer incognito modes, and privacy-focused chatbots from duckduckgo and proton exist. last month, reuters reported that lawyers said ai chatbot conversations could be used in litigation. meta's incognito mode aims to address such privacy concerns by ensuring chats are ephemeral and processed securely.
why it matters: private ai interactions are becoming critical as users share sensitive data with chatbots, and this feature could influence how ai assistants handle confidentiality in messaging apps.
source: techcrunch ai: whatsapp adds an incognito mode in meta ai chats