After Italy, WhatsApp excludes Brazil from rival chatbot ban

WhatsApp is allowing AI providers to proceed offering their chatbots to users with Brazilian telephone numbers, days aft the country’s contention regulator ordered the institution to suspend its caller argumentation that bars third-party, general-purpose chatbots from being offered connected the app via its concern API.

Under the caller policy, the institution is providing a 90-day grace play starting January 15 to developers and AI providers, mandating them to cease responding to idiosyncratic queries connected the chat app, and notify users that their chatbots won’t enactment connected WhatsApp.

Now, Meta told developers that they don’t person to notify users with Brazilian telephone numbers (with codification +55) of immoderate changes oregon cease offering their services, per a announcement to AI providers seen by TechCrunch.

“The request to cease responding to idiosyncratic queries and instrumentality pre-approved auto-reply connection (mentioned below) earlier January 15, 2026, nary longer applies erstwhile messaging radical with a Brazil state codification (+55),” the announcement reads.

WhatsApp did not instantly respond to a query seeking to corroborate the decision.

The policy, which goes into effect from today, impacts general-purpose chatbots similar ChatGPT and Grok connected the platform. Notably, the argumentation does not halt businesses from providing lawsuit work via bots wrong WhatsApp to their customers.

In its notice, Brazil’s contention bureau said it would analyse if Meta’s presumption are exclusionary to competitors and unduly favour Meta AI, the company’s chatbot that’s offered connected WhatsApp.

Meta has antecedently provided a akin exemption to users successful Italy aft the country’s contention bureau took contented with the argumentation successful December. Separately, the EU has besides opened an antitrust probe into the caller rules.

The institution has consistently maintained that AI chatbots are straining its systems that were designed for antithetic uses of its concern API. Meta has adjacent said successful the past that radical who privation to usage antithetic chatbots tin bash truthful extracurricular WhatsApp.

“These claims are fundamentally flawed,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said successful effect to CADE’s probe connected Tuesday. “The emergence of AI chatbots connected our Business API enactment a strain connected our systems that they were not designed to support. This logic assumes WhatsApp is someway a de facto app store. The way to marketplace for AI companies is the app stores themselves, their websites and manufacture partnerships; not the WhatsApp Business Platform.”