After Italy, WhatsApp Excludes Brazil from Rival Chatbot Ban

WhatsApp exempts Brazil from its AI chatbot ban following regulatory pushback—here’s what it means for users and developers.
Matilda
After Italy, WhatsApp Excludes Brazil from Rival Chatbot Ban
WhatsApp Exempts Brazil from AI Chatbot Ban Amid Antitrust Scrutiny In a swift reversal just days after rolling out a global policy restricting third-party AI chatbots, WhatsApp has exempted users in Brazil from the ban. The move comes after Brazil’s competition regulator intervened, raising concerns that Meta’s new rules unfairly favor its own AI assistant while sidelining rivals like ChatGPT and Grok. If you’re wondering whether your WhatsApp-connected AI bot still works—and why Brazil is suddenly an exception—you’re not alone. Credit: Unsplash / Alexander Shatov Why Did WhatsApp Ban Third-Party AI Chatbots? On January 15, 2026, WhatsApp began enforcing a controversial update to its Business API terms: all “general-purpose” AI chatbots must stop responding to user messages within 90 days. The company cited technical strain on its infrastructure, arguing that its systems were built for business-to-customer interactions—not open-ended AI conversations. Developers were instructed to notify…