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Bad news for those accessing chatbots like ChatGPT via WhatsApp—you only have a few more months to enjoy the service.
Meta has banned general-purpose chatbots from the platform, following a recent change to the terms and conditions of the WhatsApp Business API, first spotted by News.
The move could impact the WhatsApp clients of tools like ChatGPT, which launched in December 2024, along with numerous other WhatsApp chatbots that have appeared over the past year. These include AI search engine Perplexity’s WhatsApp chatbot, which launched in April, as well as lesser-known products like Latin America focused chatbot Luzia.
The ban goes into effect on Jan. 15, 2026, giving users a few months to find replacements.
Following the change, “large language models, generative artificial intelligence platforms, general-purpose artificial intelligence assistants, or similar technologies” will be prohibited from accessing or using the WhatsApp Business Solution “when such technologies are the primary (rather than incidental or ancillary) functionality being made available for use.”
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Businesses will be allowed to maintain their own consumer-facing chatbots for interacting with customers on WhatsApp. For example, a local takeout place managing its orders. And while users won’t be able to chat directly with general-purpose chatbots via WhatsApp Business, companies will still be able to use data gathered via the messaging app for AI training.
This means Meta AI, launched in August 2024, will now be the sole chatbot general purpose chatbot available on WhatsApp. Meta told News that it’s banning business API use cases falling outside “the intended design and strategic focus” of the API, adding that third-party chatbots were placing a burden on its systems and support teams. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed in May that his company had hit one billion monthly users across its AI tools.
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I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to install games from multiple CD-ROMs by hand. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human lives. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.
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