Last month, Meta began rolling out its AI assistant inside WhatsApp across Europe. The new feature appears as a blue circle at the bottom of users’ chat lists, offering capabilities like answering questions, generating images, and providing web search results. This follows the explosive growth of GenAI chat platforms, with Meta clearly aiming to capture some of that momentum. But the early reaction tells a different story, search results on the feature are dominated by tutorials on how to turn it off (Fraser, 2025).
This backlash highlights a core principle of digital strategy: business models succeed when they solve real customer problems, not when they adopt technology for its own sake. WhatsApp’s value proposition is simple and reliable communication. A permanent AI button now risks undermining those strengths. As McKinsey notes, true customer-centricity means redesigning processes around what customers need, not what new technologies make possible (Sankur et al., 2024).
And yet, dismissing the move outright may be short-sighted. In the long run, Meta could be positioning WhatsApp as a new kind of platform where an assistant helps users search, plan, and manage tasks without leaving the chat. If so, today’s complaints may be similar to the initial backlash against Instagram Stories. This rollout too faced temporary resistance but later on became central to the platform. To reach that goal, there are ways WhatsApp could still steer this rollout in the right direction. First of all, clear opt-out controls would give users a sense of agency. Equally important is rebuilding the trust around privacy. User fears about Meta AI scanning their messages aren’t new, previous privacy concerns already drove users to competitor Signal earlier this summer. Reaffirming how personal messages are never scanned could address those concerns. Finally, demonstrating useful, low-friction applications (like summarising long group chats or translating messages instantly) would help shift perceptions.
So is Meta forcing unwanted tech onto its users, or laying the groundwork for trusted new features? The answer will depend on whether Meta AI evolves into a genuinely helpful tool, or remains an unwanted button nobody asked for.
References
Fraser, G. (2025, 23 april). WhatsApp defends “optional” AI tool that cannot be turned off. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd7vzw78gz9o
Sankur, A., Duncan, E., Cilento, G., & Fuchs, S. (2024, 10 december). True customer-centricity: An operating model for competitive advantage. Mckinsey.com. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/industrials-and-electronics/our-insights/true-customer-centricity-an-operating-model-for-competitive-advantage
