Are you also fed up with the Meta AI button in WhatsApp and want to get rid of it? Actually you can't remove it, but it seems possible to go back a previous version of the app, as I found out. Below an example of how the AI button looks like. I am not sure if this button was just activated by Meta or arrived with an update. Any future update or activation could bring it back. This post comes with a disclaimer: No guarantee that this will work for you, the button can come back if Meta decides to activate it again or if you (are forced to) update to a new version.

Here are the steps to follow to go back to an older version of WhatsApp that doesn't have the Meta AI icon:

• Make a backup of your chat
  - Press the 3 buttons in the right top of Whatsapp
  - Click Settings
  - Click Chats
  - Scroll to the bottom and click Chat backup
  
  
• After the backup has finished, close the app and remove it from your phone
• Download an older version of the WhatsApp apk from WhatsApp Messenger 2.25.4.76 (Android 5.0+) APK Download by WhatsApp LLC - APKMirror
• Install the downloaded file
• Login into your existing account
• Restore the backup
• Voila, no Meta AI button (for as long as it takes)

Now to make sure that the button is not returning through an update, we need to disable auto-update of WhatsApp messenger.

• Open Google Play on your phone
• Click your profile icon
• Click Manage apps and device
• Select the Manage tab
• Scroll down to the WhatsApp Messenger listing and click it
• Click the three dots in the upper right cornder
• In the pop-up menu remove the checkmark from the Enable auto-update.

Important: At some point this version will stop being supported and you will have to update to a new version if you want to keep communicating. Let's hope that at this point Meta has made it possible to not show this button. Also realize that newer versions of the tool may include security updates to lock down vulnerabilities.

Meta says that they do not have access to your chats. Let's not give them the benefit of the doubt. Keep an eye on the news about this, this might change in the future. It might be that a setting becomes available that stops your data from being collected.

Also important, let Meta (Facebook) know that you object to using your data for their AI models. Open this link: https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/6359191084165019

Edit: I did this 484 72 hours more than 2 weeks ago and the Meta button did not return. Will update here if it does.