This is obviously bad from #whatsapp, but also, the way the journalist describes what the chatbot does, as if it had intentions, is pretty bad too.
"It was the beginning of a bizarre exchange of the kind more and more people are having with AI systems, in which chatbots try to negotiate their way out of trouble, deflect attention from their mistakes and contradict themselves, all in an attempt to continue to appear useful."
No, the chatbot isn't "trying to negotiate", and is not "attempting to appear useful". It's a program that follows programming rules to output something that looks like English langage. It doesn't have desires or intentions, and it cannot lie because it doesn't know what truth is.
‘It’s terrifying’: WhatsApp AI helper mistakenly shares user’s number
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jun/18/whatsapp-ai-helper-mistakenly-shares-users-number?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other