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

WhatsApp announced an opt-in feature called “Private Processing” that enables AI capabilities (e.g., summarization, suggestions) by offloading computation to privacy-preserving cloud servers. The design uses anonymous authentication, HPKE keys from a third-party CDN, relay-based IP hiding, remote attestation with TLS, and a stateless Trusted Execution Environment/Confidential VM that processes encrypted requests and returns encrypted responses. Meta plans to share the CVM binary and some source code for validation, and while the approach aims to protect user privacy, the report notes inherent risks of cloud processing and advises users to keep it disabled if uncomfortable.