Meta is updating its business-API rules to prevent AI providers from using WhatsApp as a front-end for general-purpose chatbot interactions. The ban, which begins January 15, 2026, targets services where artificial intelligence is the primary functionality offered to users.
Over the past several months, companies such as OpenAI and Perplexity launched phone numbers that enabled users to chat directly with their models by adding them as a WhatsApp contact. This strategy provided direct access to WhatsApp’s 3 billion active users. The approach was particularly attractive in countries where mobile data plans exempt WhatsApp traffic from charges, making the services broadly accessible. While this method helped AI companies tap into a vast audience, the user experience on the messaging app was more limited than on the full ChatGPT or Perplexity platforms. Meta, which operates its own chatbot, has now updated its rules to restrict other AI firms from using its platform as an interface.
The new policy, initially spotted by TechCrunch, will prohibit large-language-model (LLM) providers from utilizing the WhatsApp business API when the technology is the main feature being delivered. This change does not affect companies that use AI as part of a larger customer-support workflow on WhatsApp. The rule is specifically designed to distinguish between services using the application as a direct front-end for general-purpose chatbot conversations and those that use AI for more incidental or ancillary support functions.
Meta’s revised terms of service explicitly detail the prohibition.
The section states: “Providers and developers of artificial intelligence or machine learning technologies, including but not limited to large language models, generative artificial intelligence platforms, general-purpose artificial intelligence assistants, or similar technologies as determined by Meta in its sole discretion (“AI Providers”), are strictly prohibited from accessing or using the WhatsApp Business Solution, whether directly or indirectly, for the purposes of providing, delivering, offering, selling, or otherwise making available such technologies when such technologies are the primary (rather than incidental or ancillary) functionality being made available for use, as determined by Meta in its sole discretion.”
Reacting to the policy change, OpenAI has confirmed that its WhatsApp contact will no longer work after the January 15, 2026, effective date. Perplexity, which is also impacted by the updated rules, has not yet confirmed if it will terminate its support on the platform. The Perplexity AI service currently remains accessible on other messaging and social media applications, including Telegram and X.
