Signal will not add ads and AI to the app like WhatsApp did

Dmytro Dzhuhalyk - 17 June, 04:45 PM

Two WhatsApp news stories emerged in June – the introduction of an AI-powered feature to summarize unread messages and the introduction of ads in the “Updates” tab. These news caught the attention of Meredith Whittaker, who is the president of the Signal Foundation, developers of the secure messenger of the same name.

She addressed her users on social media to assure them that, unlike WhatsApp, Signal developers promise not to add any AI-based features or tracking ads, "no matter what the rest of the industry does."

Use Signal. We promise, no AI clutter, and no surveillance ads, whatever the rest of the industry does. <3

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— Meredith Whittaker (@meredithmeredith.bsky.social) Jun 16, 2025 at 18:30

It's hard to say how long this promise will last, but the company has taken some steps in this direction before. In particular, at the SXSW conference, Whittaker stated that agent-based artificial intelligence could pose a significant threat to user privacy. Continuing the same theme, Signal developers previously banned Recall from taking screenshots of the messenger on Windows 11.

Overall, Signal is now one of the most popular messengers, with around 70 million active users. However, it is still far behind giants like Telegram, whose founder reported a billion users, and WhatsApp, which is used by three billion people every month.

However, Signal continues to develop actively and gains many new features, such as the ability to sync messages to new devices and video conferencing like Zoom or Google Meet.

Earlier this year, Signal was at the center of a White House scandal over the use of the messenger by many US officials for work communications, including planning airstrikes in Yemen. The Pentagon has already opened an internal investigation into the matter.