WhatsApp is carving out Brazil from its new clampdown on third-party, general-purpose chatbots, allowing AI providers to keep serving users with +55 numbers even as the company moves to restrict such services elsewhere via its Business API. The move mirrors an earlier carve-out in Italy and comes amid intensifying antitrust scrutiny of whether Meta is favoring its own assistant, Meta AI, on the platform.
Brazil Gets a Regulatory Carve-Out Amid Antitrust Review
Brazil’s competition authority, CADE, ordered Meta to suspend enforcement of its chatbot restrictions while it investigates possible exclusionary conduct. In response, WhatsApp told partners that the requirement to shut down bot responses and implement pre-approved auto-replies during a 90-day wind-down does not apply to users with Brazil’s +55 country code.
The exemption effectively pauses the ban for Brazil-based users and businesses, preserving status quo access to chatbots from outside providers. It follows a similar step in Italy after the national competition watchdog, AGCM, raised concerns over the policy’s impact on rivals and market access.
What the Policy Actually Bans on WhatsApp's API
WhatsApp’s updated terms target general-purpose AI assistants offered through its Business API—think bots like ChatGPT or Grok that answer open-ended queries. The company says B2C automation for customer support, commerce, and notifications remains allowed, so banks, airlines, and retailers can continue operating service-oriented bots.
Developers outside the exempted markets face a 90-day period to stop responding to user prompts and switch on standardized auto-replies. WhatsApp argues the Business API was not designed for the heavy, conversational traffic generated by open-ended AI agents and contends that AI firms have ample distribution through app stores, the web, and partnerships without relying on WhatsApp as a discovery channel.
Why Brazil and Italy Matter for WhatsApp's AI Rules
Brazil is one of WhatsApp’s most important markets, both by user base and business adoption. DataReportal estimates WhatsApp reaches well over 90% of internet users in the country, making it a default channel for communication and commerce. Any restriction on bots there would reverberate across customer service, local startups, and AI providers that have built products around WhatsApp workflows.
Italy’s intervention set a precedent: when a competition regulator queries potential self-preferencing, WhatsApp has shown it will pause or tailor enforcement. The European Commission has also opened an antitrust probe into the new rules, and competition lawyers note that questions about favoring Meta AI could intersect with the EU’s broader obligations on gatekeepers, including limits on self-preferencing.
The Stakes for AI Providers and Users on WhatsApp
For AI companies, WhatsApp remains a uniquely low-friction channel, especially in markets where it dominates daily communication. Access can translate into higher engagement and lower acquisition costs versus standalone apps. Losing that channel in non-exempt regions could push developers to web widgets, SMS, or native apps—each with more onboarding friction and weaker retention.
Consumers in Brazil will notice little change for now: general-purpose chatbots can keep functioning alongside service bots. Outside the carve-outs, users may see “we’re no longer available on WhatsApp” notices and be redirected to other channels. For small businesses that rely on hybrid assistants (mixing customer support with general Q&A), implementation details will determine whether they must rearchitect flows or split experiences.
Meta’s Rationale And The Antitrust Lens
Meta maintains that general-purpose AIs overload systems built for transactional and service use cases, not sustained free-form conversations at scale. It also emphasizes that WhatsApp is not an “app store” and should not be a default distribution layer for open-ended AI assistants. Regulators are probing whether that position, coupled with a policy that sidelines rivals while Meta AI expands on WhatsApp, amounts to unfair self-preferencing.
The carve-outs do not end the inquiry. CADE and EU officials will scrutinize technical justifications, capacity constraints, and whether WhatsApp could employ neutral remedies—such as rate limits, quotas, or a separate API tier—without effectively locking out third-party AIs.
What to Watch Next as WhatsApp’s Policy Evolves
Three signals will indicate the policy’s trajectory:
- Whether more regulators seek suspensions similar to Brazil and Italy
- Whether WhatsApp proposes a differentiated access model for general-purpose AIs
- How quickly Meta AI expands across features and languages inside WhatsApp
There is precedent for regional flexibility on the platform. WhatsApp’s payments rollout in Brazil, initially paused by financial regulators, later proceeded with tailored safeguards. A comparable path—temporary limits followed by a revised framework—could emerge for AI chatbots if authorities and Meta align on capacity, safety, and competition concerns.
For now, Brazil stands as a critical test: a market where user reliance on WhatsApp is near-universal and where regulatory pushback has, at least temporarily, kept the door open for rival chatbots.
