How to Block Read AI Meeting Notes and Stop Unwanted Bots
Read AI can join meetings automatically depending on how it is configured. Here is how to check whether it has joined, where to find the controls, and how to document your team's approved policy.
Updated 5 min read
Read AI is a meeting assistant that records, transcribes and summarizes calls. When someone on a call has Read AI connected to their calendar or meeting platform, the assistant may join automatically. If the bot appears in a meeting you did not expect it to, you can remove it and then adjust the settings that let it join in the first place.
The question of which meeting assistants are permitted in your organization is a team decision, not just a personal one. A tool like fenbs gives teams a place to record those approved rules so that every member, and every AI tool they use, starts from the same agreed policy.
Why Read AI may join your meeting
Read AI joins a meeting when a user who has connected their calendar grants permission for the assistant to attend. Most meeting platforms show the bot as a participant with a name like "Read AI Notetaker" or similar. If a colleague has auto-join enabled on their account, the bot may appear in any meeting they host or join.
This is a feature, not a malfunction. The challenge is that attendees who did not set up Read AI may not know it is recording until they see it in the participant list. Some platforms show a recording indicator; others do not make it obvious.
For neighbors: if you want to share Read AI meeting notes with someone or save them to a specific location, those topics are covered in separate guides. This page covers how to stop Read AI from joining in the first place.
How to remove Read AI from a live meeting
In most meeting platforms, any participant with host or co-host permissions can remove the bot from a live call. Select the notetaker from the participant list and use the remove or kick option. The bot will leave the call, but the recording up to that point may already be saved to the account that invited it.
Removing it from the call does not delete recordings already made. To request deletion of a recording you did not authorize, contact the account holder or reach out to Read AI through their support. For details on what controls exist, consult the Read AI help center (opens in a new tab).
Turn off auto-join in Read AI
The auto-join setting is in the Read AI account of the person who set it up. To turn it off, that person needs to sign in to their Read AI account, find the meeting bot or notetaker settings, and toggle off automatic joining. The exact path may vary as the product updates, so check the Read AI help center (opens in a new tab) for current steps.
If you are the host and you want to prevent any meeting bots from joining your calls, some platforms let you set a waiting room policy that requires you to admit participants manually. That lets you review who or what is joining before the call starts, including any AI notetakers.
If a colleague's bot is joining your calls without their knowledge, they may have set up Read AI in a previous job or on a shared calendar account and forgotten about it. Ask them to review their Read AI settings.
Block bots at the platform level
Some meeting platforms let administrators restrict which third-party apps can join meetings. In Microsoft Teams, for example, workspace administrators can control which apps are available and which can join as bots. In Zoom, account-level settings include controls over third-party recording apps.
Platform-level controls apply to everyone in the workspace, so they are a blunt instrument. If your team uses Read AI intentionally for some calls but not others, a blanket block may cause friction. A clearer solution is to agree on which calls are recorded and communicate that before the meeting starts.
For a broader review of AI note-taking options and how to choose one, see AI meeting note taker.
Agree on a team policy for meeting assistants
The more effective long-term answer is a clear team rule about which meeting assistants are approved, under what conditions calls may be recorded, and who needs to be told before a recording starts. That rule should apply to every member, not just the people who think to ask.
A policy does not need to be long. Three sentences covering which tools are approved, whether consent needs to be given before recording, and who to contact when uncertain covers most situations.
Record your approved meeting-assistant rules
Write your meeting-assistant policy as Decisions in fenbs. Every team member and connected AI tool reads those rules first, so the policy is visible rather than buried in an email nobody can find. When the policy changes, update the Decision and the reason is preserved alongside it.
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How to do this with fenbs
- Create a free account. Start a project for your team's AI governance rules.
- Add a Decision for your meeting-assistant policy. State which tools are approved, whether consent is required, and what to do when uncertain.
- Add a Decision for data handling: where recordings may be stored, how long they may be kept, and who may access them.
- Connect your AI apps over MCP from Integrations. They will read the Decisions before answering questions about meetings or note-taking.
- Review the Decisions when your meeting tools change or when a new team member joins.
A personal board is free and a reasonable place to record your own rules. For team-wide policies, a team board gives each member a role so the right people can update the rules, and History records every change.