Meta AI vs ChatGPT privacy: ads, training, sharing, and WhatsApp, with Morse alongside

The Morse teamPublished November 10, 2026Facts checked November 10, 202612 min read

On Meta AI vs ChatGPT privacy, ChatGPT gives you more control and Meta AI gives you one stronger private mode. As of November 10, 2026, both companies keep your chats on their servers, train on them, let people review some of them, and use them to pick ads (ChatGPT only on its Free and Go plans), but only OpenAI's pages give a US user a way to turn training off, turn ad personalization off, or pay to remove ads. Meta AI chats shape the ads you see on Facebook and Instagram, and Meta's pages name no setting that stops it, while its Incognito Chat runs where Meta says it "can't access" the conversation and saves nothing afterward. Choose Meta AI if you'll do your sensitive asking in Incognito Chat, ChatGPT if you want settings that switch things off, and Morse if you want GPT without OpenAI knowing it's you and no ad profile behind any chat.

We read both companies' own pages on November 10, 2026. From Meta: its AI terms (effective May 13, 2026), privacy policy (effective July 23, 2026), five Privacy Center pages on generative AI, four Meta AI help pages, a WhatsApp help page, and three newsroom posts. From OpenAI: its help pages on data controls (updated that morning), model training, deleting chats, memory, shared links, ads, consumer data, signed-out use, and ChatGPT on WhatsApp, plus its terms and US privacy policy. We didn't test either app, and we looked only at personal accounts, not work ones. Each company earns credit somewhere. Meta built a private mode that Meta says keeps even Meta out, and OpenAI's ads page lists exactly which signals pick an ad.

Meta AI vs ChatGPT vs Morse, row by row

As of November 10, 2026, for a personal account in the US. Every Meta AI cell links to Meta's or WhatsApp's own page and every ChatGPT cell to OpenAI's. Morse's column is drawn from our privacy policy.

Is Meta AI or ChatGPT more private?

ChatGPT, for most people, because it has off switches. OpenAI says you "can turn off Improve the model for everyone and keep your chat history" (OpenAI), and turning off ad personalization stops ChatGPT using "other chat threads, ads history or topics" for ads (OpenAI). We found no matching control for US users anywhere on Meta's pages.

Meta AI wins in one place. Its Incognito Chat runs on Private Processing, and Meta's help page says "Only you can see the chat. Meta can't access it," and that the conversation "won't be saved" once you exit (Meta). ChatGPT's closest feature, Temporary chat, stays out of history and training but "may be retained for up to 30 days for safety purposes" on OpenAI's servers (OpenAI). Meta announced Incognito Chat on May 13, 2026 as "rolling out on WhatsApp and the Meta AI app over the coming months" (Meta), so check that your app has it. Incognito Chat also sends search queries to search engines by default, "without connecting the search to your account" (Meta), and you can toggle that off.

Can you stop Meta AI or ChatGPT from training on your chats?

In ChatGPT, yes. In Meta AI, only in some regions. On ChatGPT, the switch is Improve the model for everyone, under Settings and Data controls. Choosing Do not train on my content in OpenAI's Privacy Portal works too, and "Either option is sufficient" (OpenAI). Two gaps remain on OpenAI's own pages. Rating a reply after opting out can put "the entire conversation" into training, and during Trusted Access sessions such as Daybreak Blue, OpenAI may train on your content "even when 'Improve the model for everyone' is off" (OpenAI).

Meta puts it plainly: what you do with its AI features "can be used to train AI models," naming messages to AI chats, questions you ask, and images you have Meta AI imagine (Meta). In the EU, Meta's April 2025 post says notices link to a form to object "at any time," and a March 27, 2026 update to the same post adds that Meta "may train our AIs on messages that people choose to share with our AI features" (Meta). Meta keeps separate AI terms for the UK, Brazil, and the European Region (Meta). OpenAI's regional note is shorter: signed out, "Whether chats are used to train our models by default depends on your location and settings" (OpenAI). We compare every company's training rules in which AI companies train on your data.

Do Meta AI and ChatGPT use your chats for ads?

Both do now. OpenAI started testing ads on February 9, 2026, so ads are no longer a Meta-only concern. On Free and Go, OpenAI's ad system reads "the context and intent of your current conversation" and, with personalization on, "Past chats and memory" (OpenAI).

The two systems differ in four ways, all on the companies' own pages:

1. Where the ad shows. ChatGPT shows "one ad unit" below a reply, inside ChatGPT. Meta carries what you told its AI out of the chat and into your Facebook and Instagram feeds, where Meta's own example of a hiking chat ends in "ads for hiking boots" (Meta).
2. Whether you can switch it off. OpenAI lets Free users go Ads-Free with lower limits, and Plus and Pro have no ads. Meta's post sends you to Ads Preferences and feed controls to tune what you see, and names no setting that keeps your AI chats out.
3. What's left out. OpenAI keeps ads away from "personal health, mental health, or politics," and Meta's own list of excluded topics is in is Meta AI private.
4. What crosses accounts. Meta's reach follows whichever accounts share your Accounts Center, while OpenAI's privacy policy says advertisers may send it information "about purchases you make from these advertisers" (OpenAI).

OpenAI holds personalized ads back in the European Economic Area and Switzerland for now, Meta's regional exceptions are in is Meta AI private, and every ChatGPT ad setting is in how to turn off ChatGPT ads.

Can other people see your Meta AI or ChatGPT chats?

Only what you share, and both companies' links outlive the moment you share them. Meta says a Meta AI share link "doesn't expire and people can share the link"; deleting the link or the chat cuts off access (Meta). OpenAI says anyone with a link from a personal account can view it, that links "are anonymous by default," and that deleting a link "does not remove a conversation or task another person already saved" (OpenAI). ChatGPT lists every link in one place: Settings, Data controls, then Shared links.

Clearing your Meta AI chats leaves your public vibes, the AI videos on your profile, in place (Meta). Link rules for other apps are in AI chat share links.

What happens when you delete a Meta AI or ChatGPT chat?

ChatGPT gives you a deadline, and Meta gives you a warning. OpenAI schedules a deleted chat for permanent deletion "within 30 days," unless it was already de-identified or must be kept "for security or legal obligations" (OpenAI). Meta's privacy policy says it decides how long to keep information "on a case-by-case basis" (Meta), and its AI terms say "deleting individual messages, entire threads, or even your account may not delete our copy of your personal information" (Meta).

On WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, type /reset-ai in a chat with Meta AI to delete Meta's copy of that chat, or /reset-all-ais for every AI chat on that app (Meta). We give the steps for every Meta app in how to delete Meta AI chats.

Do people at Meta and OpenAI read your chats?

Some of them, at both companies. Meta's AI terms say "In some cases, Meta will review your interactions with AIs, including the content of your conversations," by automated or human review, sometimes "through third-party vendors" (Meta). OpenAI names four reasons staff and "trusted service providers" may open your content: abuse or security, support, legal matters, and model improvement unless you've opted out (OpenAI). OpenAI says it logs "all access to user content." Meta adds one more recipient: when Meta AI can't answer, it shares your messages and "general information, like your region, with select partners" (Meta). The contractors behind that work are in who reviews AI chats.

What do Meta AI and ChatGPT remember about you?

ChatGPT remembers what you tell it, and Meta AI also starts from what it knows about you on Facebook and Instagram. Meta's help pages say your "age and gender, and interests based on your activity across our products," including ads you view, personalize Meta AI, along with your location (Meta). Meta's Privacy Center adds that an AI "can remember details about you" from a chat, like liking Italian food (Meta).

ChatGPT's Memory can draw on past chats, saved memories, custom instructions, Library files, and connected apps such as Gmail (OpenAI). The controls are under Settings, Personalization, Memory, and "Deleting a chat alone does not necessarily delete a separate saved memory." Here's how to turn off ChatGPT memory.

Do you need a Facebook account to use Meta AI?

No, but you need a Meta login of some kind to keep a history. Meta's help page says you can log in to meta.ai "with your Meta account," or with a Facebook or Instagram account, though "some features, like generating images and videos, may be unavailable" that way, and that logged in, "your history with Meta AI will be saved" (Meta). ChatGPT works with no account in supported countries, now "including in Europe and the UK," one conversation at a time and kept only "for the current session on the same browser" (OpenAI). Signed in, a phone number you add stays: "You cannot unlink a phone number from an existing OpenAI account" (OpenAI).

Which is more private on WhatsApp?

Meta AI is the only one of the two left on WhatsApp for most people. OpenAI says "due to a policy and terms change from WhatsApp, ChatGPT will no longer be available on WhatsApp after January 15, 2026" (OpenAI). Its help page now says ChatGPT "is available again on WhatsApp in the European Economic Area," through the 1-800-CHATGPT contact, with no account needed, and that "Your conversations with 1-800-ChatGPT are associated with the phone number you used" (OpenAI).

Meta AI inside WhatsApp trains on what you send it (WhatsApp), and the rest of its WhatsApp rules, from what Meta can read to the reset command, are in is Meta AI private.

How Morse keeps your questions out of both companies' accounts

Every row in the table exists because Meta AI and ChatGPT both keep your chats on their own servers, tied to an account. For Meta, that's the same identity its Facebook and Instagram ads are sold against. For OpenAI, it's your email, any phone number you add, and your payment details. Morse doesn't hold that copy.

Three of the table's rows don't exist on Morse. It doesn't train AI on what you write, so there's no toggle. It shows no ads on any plan, in a feed or under a reply. And our servers don't keep your messages, so nothing on Morse's side waits out a retention window; in Anonymous mode the model's provider may keep a message for a limited time to check for abuse.

• Anonymous, to ask GPT with no Meta or OpenAI profile attached. Meta lets your AI chats inform every account in one Accounts Center, while Morse takes the account off each message. Before a GPT question leaves, our proxy takes off your Morse account, your email, and your IP address, and OpenAI receives it from Morse's own account. OpenAI reads the question without knowing it's you, and may keep the text for a limited time to check for abuse, under its own policy, so keep names you'd want hidden out of the words themselves.
• E2EE, for what neither Temporary chat nor Incognito Chat gives you. Temporary chat still leaves OpenAI a copy for up to 30 days. Incognito Chat is designed to keep Meta out, Meta says, but it's Meta's own Private Processing running Meta's model, and it's still rolling out. On Morse, your own browser verifies the enclave's hardware attestation before sending anything, seals the message so that one enclave alone can open it, and our servers pass along ciphertext they have no key for. Third-party providers run the enclaves, not Morse, and the guarantee holds only while the enclave hardware and attestation work as designed. E2EE runs open-weight models only, without web search or image generation, and our guide to end-to-end encrypted AI chat explains the mechanics.
• Private, the default, for day-to-day questions you'd rather no host held onto. It runs open-weight models such as DeepSeek, Kimi, and GLM, alongside xAI's Grok. Morse has zero data retention agreements with its inference, search, and other providers. When a host confirms zero retention reply by reply, Morse checks that confirmation and rejects any reply that comes without it.

Some things hold in every mode. Morse keeps your history in your browser, encrypted, and locks it when you sign out; unlocking needs a key held on your device plus one our server issues at sign-in. No advertising trackers or third-party analytics run on Morse, and we don't sell data. A Temporary chat lives only in memory. With no stored chats on our servers, we usually have very little to give authorities. A cleared browser or a deleted account takes your chats with it, beyond our reach to restore, so save what matters elsewhere. Our privacy modes page lays out who can see what in each mode.

Choose Meta AI, ChatGPT, or Morse

• Choose Meta AI if you already live in WhatsApp and Instagram, you'll put anything sensitive in Incognito Chat once it reaches your app, and you accept that your other AI chats shape the ads in your feeds.
• Choose ChatGPT if you want training off without losing your history, ads you can switch off or pay to remove, and a 30-day deletion deadline in writing.
• Choose Morse if you want GPT without OpenAI knowing it's you, E2EE your own browser verifies, no ads or training on any plan, and history kept encrypted on your device instead of in a Meta or OpenAI account.

Ask your first question from the Morse home page with no account, or start free, with 15 messages a day and no card. Pro, at $19 a month, adds E2EE.

Morse publishes this comparison. We've tried to keep it fair; if something's wrong or out of date, email hello@trymorse.ai.

Meta AI is a trademark of Meta Platforms, Inc. Morse is not affiliated with or endorsed by Meta Platforms, Inc.

ChatGPT is a trademark of OpenAI. Morse is not affiliated with or endorsed by OpenAI.

WhatsApp is a trademark of WhatsApp LLC. Morse is not affiliated with or endorsed by WhatsApp LLC.