WhatsApp’s latest update might just save you from endless scrolling—and the anxiety that comes with it. Meet Message Summaries, a new AI-powered feature that turns your backlog of unread texts into a neat, bulleted digest. Rather than wading through 50 messages about dinner plans, weekend memes, or work deadlines, you can now tap once and see the gist of what you missed. The rollout began today for English-speaking users in the United States, with wider language and regional support slated for later this year.

At its heart, Message Summaries leans on Meta AI running inside a “Private Processing” framework. Instead of sending your chats to Meta’s servers in plain view, the feature processes them in a secure cloud enclave designed to keep both your messages and the generated summaries hidden from prying eyes—even Meta’s own engineers. That means your most personal group chat drama stays between you and your device, not a data scientist studying conversation patterns.

By default, the feature is turned off—so there’s no sudden AI takeover of your conversations. When you’ve racked up unread messages, a small AI icon appears next to the unread count. Tap it, and instead of exposing every meme or long-form rant, WhatsApp serves up a concise overview: key names, decisions made, questions asked, even a hint of the tone. And because it’s optional, you choose when to use it—or not.

Privacy doesn’t stop there. In group chats, you can use WhatsApp’s Advanced Privacy settings to block others from invoking AI summaries, ensuring control remains firmly in your hands. No participant gets notified when you generate a summary, and no one else sees it—so you can quietly catch up without tipping your hand in that endless weekend-planning thread.