AI Just Slid Into Your DMs: ChatGPT and Perplexity Are Now on WhatsApp

TL;DR — What You Need to Know

• ChatGPT and Perplexity AI are now available on WhatsApp; add their numbers to start chatting like any other contact.
• Perplexity’s CEO has signalled plans to monetise user data, raising clear privacy concerns.
• AI is now embedded in your messaging habits — convenient, but potentially costly in terms of control.

AI Assistants Are Now Just a Message Away — But Not All Come Without Strings Attached

In a move that brings AI one step closer to your daily digital routine, both ChatGPT and Perplexity AI are now officially available inside WhatsApp. It’s the kind of integration that feels obvious—why wouldn’t you want intelligent assistance inside your messaging app? But as this shift blurs the line between private chats and persistent AI surveillance, the rollout isn’t without controversy.

Let’s unpack what’s new, how to use these tools, and why this seemingly helpful update deserves a closer look—especially if you care about your data.

How to Chat with ChatGPT or Perplexity on WhatsApp

If you’ve ever wanted to casually message ChatGPT as if it were just another friend, it’s now entirely possible. Here’s how:

• To talk to ChatGPT, add +1 (800) 242-8478 to your WhatsApp contacts.
• To use Perplexity AI, add +1 (833) 436-3285.

Once added, you can ask questions, generate summaries, search with sources, and even request image edits or creations—right from within a familiar chat window.

This isn’t a new app or integration through a web wrapper. These bots appear in your WhatsApp chat list, just like any contact. The interface feels native, frictionless, and a little too comfortable.

So What Can They Actually Do?

The functionality varies slightly between the two AIs, but both are impressively capable inside WhatsApp:

✅ ChatGPT

• Powered by OpenAI (most likely GPT-4-turbo depending on the provider setup)
• Offers intelligent conversation, summarisation, translation, code help, and more
• Integrates image generation where supported
• Responses are typically fast, contextual, and conversational

✅ Perplexity AI

• Designed around answering questions with cited sources
• Can generate images based on prompts and photos you upload
• Leans into search-style responses, useful for research, fact-checking, and recommendations
• Their team has teased more features coming soon, including multi-modal capabilities

In a launch video shared on X, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas uploaded a selfie and asked the AI what he’d look like bald. The chatbot responded with a cleanly edited (and slightly dystopian) version of the same photo—with Srinivas minus his hair.

It’s silly, yes, but it also shows how deeply AI is becoming embedded in our everyday tools—combining search, generation, and personalisation in real-time.

Why It’s a Big Deal

This is more than just a novelty. It marks a turning point in how we interact with AI:

1. Mainstream meets machine learning: WhatsApp is one of the most widely used apps across Southeast Asia and the world. Embedding AI here is a huge leap in accessibility and adoption.
2. Interface convergence: We no longer need separate apps for search, chat, and image generation. This is AI collapsing use cases into a single, everyday environment.
3. Habit formation: Messaging-style AI makes it feel natural to ask for help, brainstorm ideas, or even delegate thinking. It turns AI into a co-pilot—one emoji tap away.

But with this convenience comes a new set of questions.

Privacy Watch: Perplexity’s Data Dilemma

Despite the cool factor, not everyone is thrilled about these integrations—especially after recent comments from Perplexity’s CEO.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Srinivas shared that Perplexity is working on a new AI browser called Comet that could track detailed user data and sell that data to the highest bidder. The statement drew immediate backlash. It contradicts what many expect from modern AI—personalised help without surveillance.

It’s not just a hypothetical. If Comet shares infrastructure with Perplexity’s chatbot, there’s every reason to be cautious. While no WhatsApp-specific tracking has been confirmed, the company’s broader business intentions are clear: data = dollars.

Meanwhile, Meta—which owns WhatsApp—has already added its own AI assistant, Meta AI, as a persistent button in the lower-right corner of the app. You can’t remove or hide it. That, too, has raised concerns around accidental activation and constant data processing.

When you stack all these elements together, a clearer trend emerges: AI is becoming ambient—but at a cost to control.

Trade-Offs: Utility vs. Transparency

This table says it all: even when the functionality is strong, the trust gap is growing. AI in messaging apps has powerful upside—but it should come with transparent boundaries.

Final Thoughts

AI is now fully embedded in the most personal app we own—our chat inbox. It’s no longer a tool you visit. It’s one you live with. That brings incredible convenience, yes, but also ongoing trade-offs in how our data is used, monetised, and protected.

For users in Asia, where WhatsApp is central to business, family, and education, this evolution means it’s time to get smarter about smart assistants. Use them, experiment, and enjoy — but stay alert to what’s happening beneath the interface.

Over to you!

When AI knows everything you’ve typed — are you still the one in control?

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• AI-Powered Photo Editing Features Take Over WhatsApp
• WhatsApp Confirms How To Block Meta AI From Your Chats
• Meta Expands AI Chatbot to India and Africa
• Or visit WhatsApp to try this now by tapping here.