Even the AI assistant inside Russia’s state-backed Max messenger tells users not to trust the app

Alisa, the AI assistant built into the Max messenger, has been telling users in chat conversations to install other apps instead — Telegram, Signal, or WhatsApp. The independent Russian news outlet Verstka noticed the pattern.Asked about Max’s security, the AI — developed by Yandex — cites several vulnerabilities: it lacks end-to-end encryption, for instance, and routes user data to servers owned by VK.“The messenger collects IP addresses, activity times, contacts, device and browser type, information about the provider, and other metadata. This data may be shared with third parties, including government agencies, upon a lawful request (for example, a court order or a motivated request from authorized bodies),” the AI warns.Alisa recommends keeping Max on a separate device — a “maxphone” — rather than installing it on the phone you use for banking apps, private chats, and other personal information you want to keep from the government.If Max must be used on a personal phone, Alisa suggests relying on the messenger’s browser version and denying the app permanent access to location, contacts, microphone, and camera.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.