WhatsApp unveils 'Private Processing' for cloud-based AI features

WhatsApp has announced the introduction of 'Private Processing,' a new technology that enables users to utilize advanced AI features by offloading tasks to privacy-preserving cloud servers. This is required to utilize AI functionalities such as message summarization and writing suggestions on WhatsApp, which are too demanding for on-device hardware. The new feature will be entirely opt-in and not enabled by default, giving users complete control over how and when they choose to utilize it. Private Processing is not immediately available to WhatsApp users but will gradually be rolled out in the upcoming weeks. How Private Processing works For those who opt to use Private Processing, the system performs an anonymous authentication via the user's WhatsApp client to ensure the user's validity. Next, the app fetches public HPKE encryption keys from a third-party CDN so that Meta cannot trace requests back to specific users, maintaining full anonymity. The user's device initiates a co ... Read full article.