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Brazil\u2019s competition watchdog has ordered WhatsApp to put on hold its policy that bars third-party AI companies from using its business API to offer chatbots on the app. The agency has also started an investigation against the company to determine if the policy is anti-competitive.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to the investigations, there is possible\u00a0anti-competitive\u00a0conduct\u00a0of an exclusive nature\u00a0that\u00a0arises from the application of the New\u00a0WhatsApp\u00a0Terms\u00a0(\u201cWhatsApp\u00a0Business\u00a0Solution\u00a0Terms\u201d)\u00a0imposed by Meta to regulate the access and offer, by providers of artificial intelligence tools, of its technologies to WhatsApp users,\u201d the Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econ\u00f4mica (CADE) said<\/a>.<\/p>\n CADE said it would investigate if Meta\u2019s terms are exclusionary to competitors and unduly favor Meta AI, the company\u2019s chatbot that\u2019s offered on WhatsApp.<\/p>\n Meta last October changed its terms of use for the WhatsApp Business API<\/a> to ban third-party AI companies from offering their chatbots on the app. Companies like OpenAI<\/a>, Perplexity, and Microsoft<\/a> soon after noted that after the policy goes into force from January 15, their chatbots would no longer be offered on WhatsApp. Notably, Meta\u2019s policy does not stop businesses from offering their own chatbots, AI-powered or otherwise, within WhatsApp to their customers.<\/p>\n CADE\u2019s investigation comes after the European Union launched its own antitrust investigation into the new policy<\/a>, as has Italy<\/a>. If the EU finds Meta in breach of its antitrust rules, it could be fined up to 10% of its global revenue. <\/p>\n Meta has told AI providers that they can continue offering their AI chatbots to users in Italy even after the new rules go into force on January 15, according to a notice to developers seen by TechCrunch. The company could make a similar decision in Brazil following CADE\u2019s order. <\/p>\n Meta did not immediately respond to a request for a comment outside regular business hours.<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco<\/span> The company has consistently maintained that AI chatbots are straining its systems that were designed for different uses of its business API. Meta has even said in the past that people who want to use different chatbots can do so outside WhatsApp.<\/p>\n \u201cThe purpose of the WhatsApp Business API is to help businesses provide customer support and send relevant updates. Our focus is on supporting the tens of thousands of businesses who are building these experiences on WhatsApp,\u201d a Meta spokesperson said when the company changed the terms in October. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n