WhatsApp lets five outside AI agents into chats, each unencrypted by design

WhatsApp is beginning to usher in a feature that allows outside AI agents to join the app for a dedicated chat, with no single agent linked to a specific AI provider. The code appeared in the Android beta on September 4.

Millions of people are already running agents on rival apps like Telegram. Now, AI labs will have the ability to tap into WhatsApp’s user base with a simple API key.

An API key links an external AI agent

The connection is based on a key that the user generates in WhatsApp. With the New Agents entry in settings, a user can set up an agent, name it, and choose a profile photo.

WhatsApp then yields an API key, which the user then pastes into the platform where the agent is hosted to complete the link.

Users can create a new key at any time to cut and reestablish the connection. WhatsApp allows up to five agents connected to an account.

Each agent runs in its own one-on-one chat, detached from the rest of the account. It only reads messages in its thread and has no access to any other chats, contacts, or media files.

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