In October 2025, Meta updated its business application programming interface (API) policy to restrict third-party AI chatbots from accessing WhatsApp Business, and the rules were brought into effect on January 15. After this, ChatGPT, Copilot, and other AI bots were deactivated. The company did not specify the reason behind the prohibition, although reports had claimed that it could be due to these chatbots directly competing with its Meta AI.
The company said, “AI Providers are only permitted to offer general-purpose AI assistants on the WhatsApp Business Platform where Meta is legally required to permit this use case.” Following the move, the EU called the move anti-competitive and warned of imposing interim measures to prevent potential harm to rival AI companies. The same concerns were raised by Italy’s watchdog in December, which led to Meta allowing rival AI chatbots in the country for a fee.
Now, in the updated document, the tech giant said that in countries where it is legally required to allow support of the WhatsApp Business platform to third-party AI providers, it will charge them for every non-template message the bot sends to a user. This provision is currently applicable in 30 countries, out of which 26 are EU members, three are members of the European Economic Area (EEA), and the remaining country is Brazil.
A TechCrunch report claims that Meta could charge AI providers a fee ranging between EUR 0.0490 (roughly Rs. 5) and EUR 0.1323 (roughly Rs. 14) for each non-template message, depending on the country. Since user conversations with AI bots can span dozens of messages, the service can be a costly affair for AI companies.
A Meta spokesperson told Reuters, “For the next 12 months, we’ll support general-purpose AI chatbots using the WhatsApp Business API in Europe in response to the European Commission’s regulatory process. We believe that this removes the need for any immediate intervention as it gives the European Commission the time it needs to conclude its investigation.”
