📝 All Telegram chatbots can now stream responses to users in real time — great for AI assistants.

🎆 Unfortunately, I had to leave Dubai for Europe a week ago — so I’m not only missing the free fireworks from Iran, but also exposing myself to greater risk. Given Europe’s crime rates, Dubai is statistically safer even with missiles flying. Can’t wait to be back.

➕ In addition to a new war, there’s also a new Telegram update. New features > new war 😏

What’s 📢📢: Member Tags, Login with Telegram, Disable Sharing, GIF Editing, Date Formatting, Voting Timestamps, Streaming Responses for Bots. Check it out: https://telegram.org/blog/member-tags-disable-sharing-and-more

Telegram
Member Tags, Login with Telegram, Disable Sharing, GIF Editing, Date Formatting, Voting Timestamps

In today's update, we add tags to help group members show who they are, a setting to disable sharing messages in specific 1-on-1 chats, GIF editing and captions, new tools for signing up and logging in to apps and websites with Telegram -- and more.

💣 Russia has opened a criminal case against me for “aiding terrorism.” Each day, the authorities fabricate new pretexts to restrict Russians’ access to Telegram as they seek to suppress the right to privacy and free speech. A sad spectacle of a state afraid of its own people. 🤦‍♂️

😎 Telegram built the most powerful API for chatbot and mini app developers — and made it free.

😙 We keep expanding it with features like these colored buttons and custom emoji.

😏 Track what’s new here: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api

🔥Telegram for Android got its biggest redesign in 10 years. A few details to iron out, but it’s mostly complete — and already available to everyone.

Russia is restricting access to Telegram in an attempt to force its citizens to switch to a state-controlled app built for surveillance and political censorship.

8 years ago, Iran tried the same strategy — and failed. It banned Telegram on made-up pretexts, trying to force people onto a state-run alternative.

Despite the ban, most Iranians still use Telegram (bypassing censorship) and prefer it to surveilled apps.

Restricting citizens’ freedom is never the right answer. Telegram stands for freedom of speech and privacy, no matter the pressure.

🇪🇸 My message to Telegram users in Spain ❗️

Pedro Sánchez’s government is pushing dangerous new regulations that threaten your internet freedoms. Announced just yesterday, these measures could turn Spain into a surveillance state under the guise of “protection.” Here’s why they’re a red flag for free speech and privacy:

1. Ban on social media for under-16s with mandatory age verification: This isn’t just about kids—it requires platforms to use strict checks, like needing IDs or biometrics.

⚠️ Danger: It sets a precedent for tracking EVERY user’s identity, eroding anonymity and opening doors to mass data collection. What starts with minors could expand to all, stifling open discourse.

2. Personal and criminal liability for platform executives: If “illegal, hateful, or harmful” content isn’t removed fast enough, bosses face jail.

⚠️ Danger: This will force over-censorship—platforms will delete anything remotely controversial to avoid risks, silencing political dissent, journalism, and everyday opinions. Your voice could be next if it challenges the status quo.

3. Criminalizing algorithm amplification: Amplifying “harmful” content via algorithms becomes a crime.

⚠️ Danger: Governments will dictate what you see, burying opposing views and creating echo chambers controlled by the state. Free exploration of ideas? Gone—replaced by curated propaganda.

4. “Hate and polarization footprint” tracking: Platforms must monitor and report how they “fuel division.”

⚠️ Danger: Vague definitions of “hate” could label criticism of the government as divisive, leading to shutdowns or fines. This can be a tool for suppressing opposition.

These aren’t safeguards; they’re steps toward total control. We’ve seen this playbook before—governments weaponizing “safety” to censor critics. On Telegram, we prioritize your privacy and freedom: strong encryption, no backdoors, and resistance to overreach.

✊ Stay vigilant, Spain. Demand transparency and fight for your rights. Share this widely—before it’s too late.

This year, I wish you less —

less information 📣
less food 🍆
less entertainment 📺
less communication 💬
less stimulation ⚡️

You already have too much of all that, and it stands in the way of your serenity 🧊, health 💪, sleep 💤 and creativity 🖼.

Merry Christmas! 🎄

🧐Despite some FUD, Telegram has no dependence on Russian capital. Our recent $1.7B bond offering included exactly zero Russian investors. Old bonds issued in 2021 have largely been repaid and pose no issue. 😌

In any case, bondholders are not shareholders and have no say over Telegram’s decisions. I am the sole shareholder. 😈

Just sketched a logo for my sperm donorship program. Is ‘pd’ in a circle minimalist enough?

▶️ The auction is LIVE! 🥊

t.me/auction/ufcstrike

Telegram
Gift Auction

UFC Strike

🥊 Great to see my gym buddy Petr Yan win the UFC title — with Gifts shining in the background 🥊

🎁 The UFC Strike Gifts auction on Telegram starts in 4 hours. Don’t miss it! t.me/auction/ufcstrike 🥊

🐣 It happened. Our decentralized confidential compute network, Cocoon, is live. The first AI requests from users are now being processed by Cocoon with 100% confidentiality. GPU owners are already earning TON. https://cocoon.org is up, with docs and the source code.

🤔 Centralized compute providers such as Amazon and Microsoft act as expensive intermediaries that drive up prices and reduce privacy. Cocoon solves both the economic and confidentiality issues associated with legacy AI compute providers.

🚀 Now we scale. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be onboarding more GPU supply and bringing in more developer demand to Cocoon. Telegram users can expect new AI-related features built on 100% confidentiality. Cocoon will bring control and privacy back where they belong — with users. 🤖

Cocoon
Confidential Compute Open Network

Cocoon connects GPU power, AI, and Telegram’s vast ecosystem – all built on privacy and blockchain.

🏆 Khabib’s gift auction on Telegram is live.

29,000 papakhas dropping across 290 fast 5-minute rounds — 100 unique items in each round. 🎁

t.me/auction/KhabibsPapakha

💪 Khabib‘s legendary papakhas — collectibles symbolizing Tradition, Freedom, and Respect — are going on auction on Telegram tomorrow at noon EST (9pm Dubai time).

🌟 As the 29–0 undefeated champion himself puts it:

“Some gifts carry more than value — they carry meaning ☝️”

👉 t.me/auction/TelegramPin

Telegram
Gift Auction

Telegram Pin

A demo of how auctions for rare gifts work 🎈

😋 We’re starting to test new Telegram features such as live-streaming in Stories and auctions for gifts.

🍸 Before we auction gifts from superstars and megacelebrities, we’re testing the auction mechanics with the exclusive 🎁 Telegram Plane gift.

🏆 It will be auctioned in 50 rounds, each distributing 20 Telegram Planes to the top 20 bidders. The first round will last 1 hour, while the remaining 49 rounds will last only 5 minutes each.

🔜 The auction starts in half an hour. Make sure you have the latest version of Telegram installed, otherwise you won’t be able to take part. Good luck! 🍀

🕷 Someone made a game about me escaping a French prison — and fighting off all sorts of shady characters along the way. Try it out!

Only on Telegram could independent developers pull this off. The Mini App platform gives them absolute freedom — and the results are wild.

🎃 Happy Halloween!

P. S. I had zero involvement or even knowledge about this before it launched. Respect to the creators!