WhatsApp has announced that it will allow AI chatbot providers to continue their services for users with Brazilian phone numbers. This decision comes just days after Brazil’s competition regulator mandated the suspension of WhatsApp’s new policy, which prohibits third-party, general-purpose chatbots from operating on the platform through its business API.
Starting January 15, developers and AI providers will face a 90-day grace period during which they must refrain from responding to user messages on WhatsApp and inform users that their chatbots will no longer function on the app. However, the notice specifies that this requirement does not apply to messages sent to users in Brazil (+55).
WhatsApp did not respond immediately to inquiries for confirmation regarding this recent decision. The updated policy, effective immediately, primarily targets general-purpose chatbots such as ChatGPT and Grok. Nonetheless, businesses are still permitted to utilize chatbots for customer service interactions with their clients on WhatsApp.
Brazil’s competition agency has indicated it will investigate whether Meta’s terms are exclusionary and provide an unfair advantage to its own chatbot, Meta AI, available on WhatsApp. This follows a similar exemption granted to users in Italy after that country’s competition authority expressed concerns over the policy last December. Furthermore, an antitrust investigation by the EU into these new regulations is also underway.
Meta has consistently argued that AI chatbots are placing excessive demands on a system originally designed for different applications. The company previously stated that those wishing to utilize various chatbots should do so outside of WhatsApp. A spokesperson for WhatsApp reiterated this point, stating, “These claims are fundamentally flawed… The route to market for AI companies is the app stores themselves, their websites, and industry partnerships, not the WhatsApp Business Platform.”
