India has more people using Meta AI on WhatsApp than any other country. Will Cathcart, who runs WhatsApp, says Indian users are driving the spike in chats since Meta launched its new Muse Spark AI. Why? People in India already know WhatsApp inside out, and there’s a big appetite for quick answers and info. That’s made it the perfect place for AI to take off.
Key Takeaways
- India holds the top spot for monthly active users on Meta AI across the globe.
- This jump in usage started right after Meta added Muse Spark, its new closed-source AI model.
- Meta’s rolling out Incognito Mode for AI chats, aiming to help with privacy when you’re sharing sensitive stuff.
- WhatsApp effectively restricted third-party AI chatbots from its Business API earlier this year.
India’s fast growth comes down to Muse Spark, the first AI model from Meta Superintelligence Labs. Cathcart says people are chatting with the AI way more often since Muse Spark went live. Meta AI hit over 1 billion monthly users worldwide in May 2025, but India stands out for steady, heavy use. People there use the AI for everything from quick questions to trickier stuff like finance or health advice.
To handle all these users, WhatsApp’s adding Incognito Mode. It lets you have private or disappearing chats with the AI. Cathcart points out that as people share more personal info, secure, encrypted chats matter more. The tech runs on special hardware—AMD CPUs and Nvidia H100 GPUs, if you care about the details. One catch: Meta can’t use these private chats to train future AI models. That’s the trade-off for privacy.
Meta’s still figuring out how to make money from all this AI use. For now, it’s free. But with so many people using it, you have to wonder how long that lasts. Meanwhile, WhatsApp has locked things down. Since January 2026, third-party bots like ChatGPT or Copilot can’t run on the WhatsApp Business API. Meta wants its own AI to be the main option.
FAQ
Q1. Why is India the leader in Meta AI usage?
A1. India has a massive existing WhatsApp user base that is highly familiar with the app interface. The launch of the Muse Spark model and the high demand for digital information access have driven Indian users to adopt Meta AI faster than any other region.
Q2. What is the new Incognito Mode in Meta AI?
A2. Incognito Mode is a privacy feature for WhatsApp that ensures AI conversations are not saved and remain invisible to Meta. It allows users to discuss sensitive topics like health or finance without the data being used for AI training.
Q3. What is Muse Spark?
A3. Muse Spark is Meta’s latest closed-source frontier AI model developed by Meta Superintelligence Labs. It powers the current version of Meta AI on WhatsApp, offering improved conversational capabilities and performance.
Q4. Can I still use other AI chatbots like ChatGPT on WhatsApp?
A4. As of early 2026, Meta has restricted third-party AI chatbots from operating on the WhatsApp Business API, making Meta AI the official and primary AI assistant on the platform.
