Airtel Kenya unveils Africa's first AI-powered spam alert service

Airtel Kenya has launched an Artificial Intelligence-powered spam alert service that will allow its customers to flag and identify suspicious SMS messages in real time.

The service, which is free and automatically activated for all Airtel users, is the first of its kind in the country.

The AI system analyses over 250 indicators, such as message frequency and sender patterns, without reading the content of texts.

Airtel says the system processes over 18 million messages in real time and is designed to reduce fraud, phishing, and unwanted promotional texts.

Managing Director Ashish Malhotra said the move underscores the company’s commitment to customer safety and digital innovation.

“At Airtel, for us customer feedback and experience are at the centre of our business solutions and decisions and strategies. We are firm believers that we are only as good as our customer experiences. In light of that, we endeavour to provide our customers with the best possible products,” said Malhotra.

This development comes amid rising cases of spam and scam attempts targeting mobile phone users in Kenya.

Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) Director General David Mugonyi said: “SMS scams have become a growing menace. Last year the problem became so pronounced that the authority had to issue an alert to Kenyans to take caution while receiving messages.”

ICT & the Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo, on his part, noted: “This is the first such AI driven service from a system in Africa, and Kenya is proud to be the first country in the continent where it has been deployed.

Internationally similar technologies have been implemented in countries such as India, where telecom regulators and mobile operators have collaborated to use AI and machine learning to combat SMS fraud.”