WhatsApp Introduces AI-Powered Message Summaries: What You Need to Know

If you’re someone who constantly opens WhatsApp only to find dozens of unread messages, help is finally on the way — and it comes powered by AI.

Meta has launched a new feature called “Message Summaries” for WhatsApp, which utilizes its advanced AI systems to help users quickly catch up on conversations they’ve missed. This optional feature is designed to summarize unread messages in a concise format, saving users time while maintaining their message privacy.

Unlike traditional message previews or notifications, these AI summaries are tailored to deliver the core context of the unread messages. And importantly, the summaries are visible only to the individual user. Others in the chat won’t be notified or alerted that AI summarisation has been used.

The technology behind this is Meta’s Private Processing — an AI mechanism introduced earlier this year that works without breaking end-to-end encryption. In short, Meta and WhatsApp cannot read or store your messages, nor can they access the summaries generated. Your chats remain private, and yet you benefit from AI’s ability to process contextual information locally on your device.

“This update enhances usability while keeping security intact,” Meta noted. “AI assists only where you allow it.”

Before this update, WhatsApp’s AI capabilities were more limited. While users could ask questions to Meta AI or tag messages for assistance, actual content within messages was out of scope for AI processing. With this new rollout, WhatsApp can now pull limited encrypted context to perform AI tasks like summarisation and writing help.

The Message Summaries feature is currently rolling out in the U.S. for English-speaking users, with plans for expansion to other markets and languages soon.

To enable it, head to the WhatsApp app:
Settings > Chats > Private Processing
From there, you can opt into features such as message summaries individually.

This launch underscores Meta’s push toward integrating practical AI tools into everyday communication — without compromising the user’s control or trust in the platform.