Following regulatory examination, Meta has verified that the prohibition on third-party LLMs for WhatsApp will not be enforced for users in Italy and Brazil. Here are the specifics.
## Ban may also be lifted across the rest of the EU in the upcoming weeks
Last October, Meta declared that organizations like OpenAI and Perplexity would be barred from utilizing WhatsApp’s Business API to function as a lightweight interface for conversations.
This restriction, which takes effect today, does not pertain to LLM-based conversations in scenarios such as customer assistance. Instead, it targets specifically companies that were using WhatsApp as a substitute or alternative to their own chatbot services, like the main ChatGPT interface.
While many may perceive minimal justification for using ChatGPT via WhatsApp instead of the official application, others prefer engaging through a familiar interface, treating ChatGPT as a standard contact in their chat list.
Moreover, in multiple nations (including Brazil), mobile providers exempt WhatsApp from monthly data limitations, rendering it an especially convenient option.
After Meta’s ban announcement last October, Italy’s competition authority (AGCM) initiated an inquiry and determined in late December that the action was anticompetitive, directing Meta to reverse the ban:
> According to the Authority, Meta’s behavior appears to amount to an abuse, as it may restrict production, market entry, or technical advancements in the AI Chatbot services sector, to the detriment of consumers. Furthermore, while the inquiry is ongoing, Meta’s actions might inflict significant and irreparable damage to competition in the affected market, undermining contestability. Thus, the Authority has mandated Meta to immediately halt the WhatsApp Business Solution Terms to uphold access to the WhatsApp platform for Meta AI’s competitors.
Now, on the same day the ban took effect, Meta confirmed it would also exempt Brazil from the action, following a precautionary measure imposed by CADE, the nation’s competition regulator. CADE has also launched an administrative investigation into WhatsApp’s new terms and will determine subsequent steps after concluding its inquiry.
An investigation is also in progress in the EU, which could broaden the exemption from the ban beyond Italy, depending on the findings of the European Commission.
Regardless, WhatsApp’s Business Solution Terms presently state:
> Providers and developers of artificial intelligence or machine learning technologies, encompassing but not limited to large language models, generative artificial intelligence platforms, general-purpose artificial intelligence assistants, or similar technologies as defined by Meta at its sole discretion (“AI Providers”), are categorically forbidden from accessing or utilizing the WhatsApp Business Solution, either directly or indirectly, for the purpose of providing, delivering, offering, selling, or otherwise making available such technologies when these technologies are the primary (as opposed to incidental or ancillary) functionality being offered for use, as determined by Meta at its sole discretion; provided, however; that such technologies may be made accessible to WhatsApp users who possess registered phone numbers with an Italian or Brazilian country code.
In summary, WhatsApp users in Italy and Brazil can continue conversing with bots like ChatGPT, while the limitation remains enforced worldwide, for the time being.