Meredith Whittaker is a digital rights advocate and technologist who serves as president of the Signal Foundation, overseeing development of the Signal encrypted messaging platform. Prior to this role, she was a researcher at Google and co-founded the AI Now Institute with Kate Crawford and others, establishing one of the first independent research centers focused on AI ethics and governance.
Whittaker has been instrumental in raising awareness about the societal impacts of AI systems and advocating for worker protections, digital privacy, and democratic control over technology. Her work emphasizes the political dimensions of technology and challenges the notion that engineering can be separated from questions of power and justice.
As a vocal advocate for worker organizing in tech, Whittaker has supported efforts by technology workers to unionize and has consistently highlighted how AI development decisions affect workers, communities, and democratic institutions. Her leadership of Signal reflects her commitment to privacy and user agency in digital communications.