End-to-end encryption is still guaranteed, and Meta also said that if users only use the app to call or message their contacts, there will be “no change to [the] experience at all,” though for many, this promise simply isn’t enough.

Will Cathcart, head of Meta's subsidiary, announced the launch of WhatsApp channels with subscriptions and advertising. He says the rollout of artificial intelligence does not compromise the privacy of encrypted messaging.

After the tech giant announced it would begin to include ads in WhatsApp’s Updates tab, which is used by roughly 1.5 million people per day, Signal president Meredith Whittaker took to X to lure users to her messaging tool: “Use Signal,” she wrote. “We promise, no AI clutter, no surveillance ads—whatever the rest of the industry does.”

It’s official, WhatsApp ’s latest update is bringing ads to the platform.

WhatsApp monetization begins, potentially adding $15B+ annual revenue from Meta Platforms, Inc.'s nearly 3B global users. Click for my META stock update.