WhatsApp Tests Private Side Chat Feature to Ask Meta AI Questions Without Anyone Else Seeing

Meta-owned WhatsApp is continuing to deepen its Meta AI integration with a new feature focused on privacy. According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is testing a Private Side Chat feature that lets users ask Meta AI questions about a conversation without exposing those prompts to other participants. 

WhatsApp Side Chat Lets Users Ask Meta AI Questions Without Interrupting Conversations

As per the latest report, the upcoming Side Chat feature on WhatsApp opens on a separate interface where users can interact with Meta AI while the chatbot still understands the context of the current conversation. This means users can ask for help, explanations or suggestions without sending those prompts directly in the chat. 

Currently, users have to mention "@Meta AI" directly within a chat to ask the chatbot a question, making the prompt visible to everyone in the conversation. With Side Chat, those interactions take place in a separate private window, keeping both the prompt and Meta AI's response hidden from other participants. 

Image Credit: WABetaInfo

The feature is powered by Private Processing, Meta's privacy-focused infrastructure designed to process AI requests without exposing message content to WhatsApp or Meta. According to the report, the system ensures AI requests remain confidential while still allowing Meta AI to understand the relevant chat context.

Moreover, since the interaction happens in a dedicated panel, the main conversation remains uncluttered. This builds on the recent rollout of WhatsApp's Incognito Chats with Meta AI, which also uses Private Processing to keep AI conversations private. 

For now, the WhatsApp Side Chat feature is available only to a limited number of beta testers on Android and iOS. Moreover, there's no word on when it will roll out more widely. Given that it's still under development, WhatsApp may refine the experience further before bringing it to the stable version of the app.