Signal President Meredith Whittaker issued a stark warning about AI chatbots during a Bloomberg interview published June 20, 2026, telling users that tools like ChatGPT and Claude are not their friends and should not be trusted with sensitive personal data.
‘These are not your friends’
“These are not your friends. These are not conscious beings. These are not sentient interlocutors,” Whittaker said when asked about the privacy implications of popular AI chatbots. She acknowledged that she uses AI tools “to format a document here and there,” but insisted, “I don’t ask them questions. I’m very serious about my thinking and writing, and I don’t want the process of working through an idea to be foreclosed or eclipsed by the response of a system that’s averaging what’s already out there.”
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The Copilot scenario and the backdoor risk
Whittaker specifically pushed back on Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman’s prediction that users could let Microsoft Copilot handle all their Christmas shopping this year. She argued that this scenario — where Copilot eavesdrops on a family group chat to determine gift preferences — would require granting the AI “access to my credit card, my browser, my Signal, the ability to message my siblings on my behalf, my home address and my calendar.”
“What you’ve just described is a system with very pervasive access across multiple applications and services,” Whittaker said. “In the context of Signal, it would constitute a kind of a backdoor.”
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The remarks underscore a growing tension between the convenience promised by AI assistants and the privacy protections that end-to-end encrypted platforms like Signal are designed to provide. Whittaker’s comments come as regulators worldwide scrutinize how AI companies collect, store, and use personal data, particularly when those systems are integrated into messaging and communication tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Meredith Whittaker say about AI chatbots?
She said they are not friends, conscious beings, or sentient interlocutors, and warned against trusting them with sensitive personal data.
Why is Whittaker concerned about AI tools like Copilot?
She argued that giving an AI access to credit cards, browsers, messaging apps, and calendars constitutes a backdoor into private communications and data.
Does Meredith Whittaker use AI tools herself?
Yes, she acknowledged using AI to format documents occasionally, but said she does not ask them questions or rely on them for thinking or writing.
What was the context of her comments?
She made the remarks in a broader interview with Bloomberg about privacy, policy, and the future of Signal, responding to questions about AI chatbot privacy implications.
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