Meta Announces Ban on Rival AI Chatbots From WhatsApp

Eric Hal Schwarz, reporting for TechRadar:

Meta is closing the door on third-party AI assistants inside WhatsApp. Starting January 15, 2026, no general-purpose AI chatbot, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, and others, will be allowed to operate on the platform. The change is part of an update to WhatsApp’s Business API policy that bans developers of “large language models, generative AI platforms, or general-purpose AI assistants” from accessing the system.

In plain terms, Meta is locking down the world’s largest messaging app to ensure that the only chatbot you’ll find inside it is Meta AI.

Perhaps because I’m only a light user of WhatsApp, I had no idea that rival AI chatbots had accounts there. I just tried it with 1-800-ChatGPT and it seems pointless. It’s noticeably slower and uses an older model than just using the ChatGPT app. (You can also just place a regular phone call to 1-800-ChatGPT, which seems about as useful in today’s world as calling 555-FILM for Moviefone to get movie showtimes.)

OpenAI, on X, has taken the news in stride:

Meta changed its policies so 1-800-ChatGPT won’t work on WhatsApp after Jan 15, 2026.

Luckily we have an app, website, and browser you can use instead to access ChatGPT.

Via Kontra, who quips:

Why hasn’t the EU started an investigation of Apple already?!

★ Friday, 24 October 2025