After Italy, WhatsApp excludes Brazil from rival chatbot ban

WhatsApp is allowing AI providers to continue offering their chatbots to users with Brazilian phone numbers, days after the country’s competition regulator ordered Meta to suspend a new policy that blocks third-party, general-purpose chatbots from operating on the app via its business API.

Under the policy, WhatsApp introduced a 90-day grace period starting January 15, requiring developers and AI providers to stop responding to user queries on the platform and to notify users that their chatbots would no longer function on WhatsApp.

However, Meta has since informed developers that these requirements do not apply to users with Brazilian phone numbers. According to a notice sent to AI providers and seen by TechCrunch, developers do not need to notify users with Brazil’s country code (+55) about any changes or halt their chatbot services.

“The requirement to cease responding to user queries and implement pre-approved auto-reply language before January 15, 2026, no longer applies when messaging people with a Brazil country code (+55),” the notice stated.

WhatsApp did not immediately respond to requests seeking confirmation of the decision.

The policy, which takes effect starting today, affects general-purpose AI chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Grok on the platform. The rules do not prevent businesses from using bots for customer service interactions with their customers on WhatsApp.

Brazil’s competition authority said it would examine whether Meta’s updated terms unfairly exclude competitors and favor Meta AI, Meta’s own chatbot available on WhatsApp.

Meta has previously granted a similar exemption in Italy after the country’s competition regulator raised concerns about the policy in December. Separately, the European Union has opened an antitrust investigation into the new rules.

Meta has repeatedly argued that third-party AI chatbots place strain on systems originally designed for different uses of WhatsApp’s business API. The company has also stated that users who wish to access alternative AI chatbots can do so outside of WhatsApp.

“These claims are fundamentally flawed,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said earlier this week in response to Brazil’s investigation. “The emergence of AI chatbots on our Business API put a strain on our systems that they were not designed to support. This logic assumes WhatsApp is somehow a de facto app store. The route to market for AI companies is the app stores themselves, their websites, and industry partnerships—not the WhatsApp Business Platform.”