Meta AI Rolls Out Across Europe — But Users Can’t Turn It Off
Meta’s artificial intelligence assistant is officially made its European debut — whether users want it or not. After a delayed rollout due to regulatory hurdles, Meta AI is now live across WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger in 41 European countries, including all EU member states and 21 overseas territories. But while Meta promotes it as ‘innovation’, those who care enough about their privacy are raising concerns over the lack of opt-out options.
WhatsApp Users Can't Turn Off Meta AI
Users across the UK, France, Germany, and other parts of Europe have started reporting the sudden appearance of Meta AI in WhatsApp. The chatbot is integrated directly into the app — via a blue icon above the “New Chat” button — and is now a permanent part of the user interface.
Meta AI also offers features like sticker generation and group chat assistance, but can’t transcribe audio messages or summarize chats, yet. Crucially, the AI cannot be disabled, raising concerns around user autonomy and privacy.
Although Meta claims that private messages will not be used to train AI models, interactions with Meta AI could be, and those are not excluded from future data training pipelines.
Meta Celebrates the Expansion
From Meta’s perspective, this is a milestone. The company said in an official statement that Meta AI is already used by over 700 million monthly active users globally. It views this European launch as the “first step” in achieving parity with U.S. features, starting with six supported languages and expanding in the coming months.
Meta sees its AI assistant as an “on-call” digital helper — a tool for planning trips, settling debates, generating creative content, and even surfacing relevant Reels or posts from friends. Users can summon it in group chats simply by typing @MetaAI, a move Meta says enhances daily interactions.
The Privacy vs. Progress Dilemma
The rollout raises questions about the balance between innovation and user control. The absence of an opt-out mechanism for Meta AI has privacy advocates alarmed, especially in a region like the EU that has stringent GDPR protections.
Despite Meta’s reassurances, embedding AI across core messaging platforms without user consent sets a concerning precedent. Even if private chats aren’t used for training, the inability to remove the AI entirely undermines user agency in digital spaces increasingly dominated by opaque algorithms.
