Meredith Whittaker
President of Signal; co-founder of the AI Now Institute
Spent over a decade at Google, helped organize the 2018 Google walkout, co-founded the AI Now Institute, and now leads the Signal Foundation. She argues AI is fundamentally a surveillance-business-model technology.
Key arguments & positions
- Argues today's AI is a product of the surveillance business model, and that concentrated data and compute are the real story.
- Opposes client-side scanning and encryption backdoors, and has said Signal would leave markets that mandate them.
- Argues "agentic AI" as currently built requires handing over broad device access, which breaks the security model of private messaging.
Accomplishments
- President of the Signal Foundation since 2022; chief advisor and former faculty director of the AI Now Institute.
- Spent 13 years at Google, founded its Open Research group, and co-organized the 2018 Google walkout.
- Former senior advisor on AI to the US Federal Trade Commission.
Papers & key writings
Links
In the library
Nothing of theirs is filed in the hub yet. Browse the full library.
Recommended next
Hand-picked from the hub based on what Meredith Whittaker covers.
String Literal (Yael Grauer)
Investigative reporter Yael Grauer writes on privacy, security, surveillance and the craft of tech journalism.
Why this: Covers surveillance and privacy too
Micah Lee
Security technologist Micah Lee's site — tools, writing and guidance for journalists, researchers and activists working safely.
Why this: Covers surveillance and privacy too
Decoded Futures Prompt Cookbook V.2
A free, no-code recipe book of practical AI prompts built for nonprofit teams. Turn existing reports, events, and materials into slide decks, web pages, plain-language translations, social copy, and repeatable workflows. Every recipe includes a privacy badge so you know what stays on your computer, what goes public, and what connects to a vendor account.
Why this: Also about privacy
Link Cleaner
A free tool that strips tracking parameters from links before you share them, so the people you send a link to aren't followed across the web. Paste a link, get a clean version back.
Why this: Also about privacy