Signal president Meredith Whittaker urges slower AI rollout and defends encryption
Meredith Whittaker, Signal's president, warned that AI needs slower, safeguarded deployment and defended end-to-end encryption against UK government restrictions.
How it was covered
- BBC News was the only channel found covering it, concentrating on Meredith Whittaker's AI warnings and defence of Signal encryption.
- Channel 5, BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4, ITV and Sky News: not found in tracked broadcasts.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
BBC News reported that Meredith Whittaker, the president of Signal, used the Newscast programme to argue for slowing down the deployment of artificial intelligence. According to BBC News, she said the risk is real but that dramatic warnings about AI doom can distract from the safeguards needed. The BBC report said Whittaker called for measures that slow things down and leave room for judgment, so institutions and experts can say AI is not appropriate in some settings.
BBC News reported that Whittaker leads Signal, an encrypted messaging app built around privacy, with an estimated 40 million to 70 million users. According to the BBC, she said that when two people talk on Signal, only they can read the messages. The BBC report said she warned that almost everything people do, including connections, communities, locations, preferences and communications, is surveilled and logged by a handful of companies, which use it to sell ads or can give it to governments.
BBC News reported that Whittaker became publicly known around 2017 as a co-organiser of the Google Walkout, when more than 20,000 employees and contractors took part. According to the BBC, she was a former AI researcher at Google and had raised concerns about the ethical risks of AI systems, including their potential use in military applications. The BBC report said she was alarmed that such systems could supercharge mistakes, launder bad intelligence and bad data, and paint a veneer of objectivity on flawed information.
The BBC report also noted that Signal and other encrypted apps face criticism from those who oppose absolute privacy. According to BBC News, the UK government said in 2026 that encrypted messaging apps could face restrictions as part of efforts to tackle child abuse and the sharing of explicit imagery. The BBC report said Whittaker defended end-to-end encryption, arguing that private communication is a fundamental human right and that undermining it at one point poisons it for everyone.
BBC News reported that Whittaker warned the vision for future technology is being written by people whose motivations are often aligned with the profit and growth of a narrow industry. According to the BBC, she said products and technologies should not dominate the vision for how the human population moves forward.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| Signal is estimated to have between 40 million and 70 million users. | |
| The UK government said encrypted messaging apps could face restrictions as part of efforts to tackle child abuse and the sharing of explicit imagery. | |
| Whittaker argued that private communication is a fundamental human right and that undermining end-to-end encryption in one place harms it for everyone. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The BBC's Newscast segment treated Whittaker as a prominent privacy and AI critic, blending her warnings about AI deployment with a defence of Signal's end-to-end encryption. It foregrounded her Google background and the 2017 walkout, then set her privacy argument against UK government pressure on encrypted apps. The tone was explanatory and largely sympathetic to her concerns, while noting criticism of absolute privacy.
- “You would have to draw back on a lot of this. You would have to put measures in place that slow things down, that leave room for judgment, that allow institutions and experts to say, AI is not appropriate here.”
- “Private communication is a fundamental human right for a reason. And you undermine end-to-end encryption in one point, and you have poisoned it for everyone.”
- “Right now our visions are being written by people whose motivations are often aligned with the profit and growth of a very narrow industry.”
Who was on air
People and organisations each channel put on air while covering this story. Channels' own presenters and reporters are not listed. Names as transcribed, and the list can miss people.
- 00:45 GMT
Meredith Whittaker, president of Signal, the encrypted messaging app
Newscast · Thu 12 Nov
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.