WhatsApp exempts Brazil from third-party AI chatbot ban

WhatsApp is allowing artificial intelligence providers to continue offering chatbots to users with Brazilian phone numbers, exempting the country from its policy banning third-party, general-purpose chatbots on the platform. Under the policy, Meta is providing a 90-day grace period, starting January 15, 2026, for developers to cease responding to user queries. However, Meta has informed developers that they do not have to notify users with Brazilian phone numbers—which use the country code +55—of any changes or cease offering services. According to a Meta notice to AI providers, 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). This exemption allows general-purpose chatbots, such as ChatGPT and Grok, to remain active on the platform for Brazilian users.

The policy shift follows regulatory action in Brazil. CADE, Brazil’s competition regulator, is investigating if Meta’s terms are exclusionary to competitors and unduly favor Meta AI, which is the company’s own chatbot offered on WhatsApp. This regulatory pushback mirrors challenges Meta faces in other jurisdictions. Meta previously granted a similar exemption to users in Italy after that country’s competition agency took issue with the policy. Separately, the EU has opened an antitrust investigation into the new rules.

WhatsApp has defended its policy, arguing that general-purpose AI chatbots strain systems that were not built to handle them. A WhatsApp spokesperson responded to the probe on Tuesday, calling the claims fundamentally flawed. According to the WhatsApp spokesperson, “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.” The policy specifically targets general-purpose chatbots on the Business API, which are defined as AI chatbots not specific to a single business’s customer service.

Why it matters

Meta is granting market-specific exemptions to its third-party chatbot ban in Brazil and Italy following regulatory pressure, while maintaining that AI chatbots strain its systems.