- Meta will ban all third-party general purpose AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Perplexity from WhatsApp in January.
- Users will be forced to move to other platforms if they do not switch to Meta AI.
- The move is intended to reduce the load on the infrastructure, but it also gives more power to Meta's AI assistant and more data for the company.
Meta closes the door to third-party AI assistants inside whatsapp. As of January 15, 2026, general purpose AI will no longer be used. chatbotincluding ChatGPT, Perplexity and others will be allowed to run on the platform. The change is part of an update to WhatsApp's Business API policy, which bars developers of “large language models, generative AI platforms, or general purpose AI assistants” from accessing the system.
Simply put, Meta locks down the world's largest messaging app to ensure that the only chatbot you'll find inside it is Meta AI.
For a company that has been implementing Meta AI into every aspect of its products for the past year, this isn't all that surprising. WhatsApp is a huge platform for Meta to test AI ideas, and hosting a lot of third-party chatbots means that not everyone turns to Meta AI for help.
But all the other bots will now have to pack up and leave.
WhatsApp has over three billion users, making it one of the most valuable entry points for consumer AI imaginable. Allowing third-party helpers to thrive within it essentially gave competitors like OpenAI access to Meta's user base, bypassing Meta's own monetization plans. Now, having closed the door, the company is ensuring that Meta AI will be the only chatbot with native access inside WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger.
Meta says it's an infrastructure issue, and the statement says these chatbots are putting a strain on the platform due to the sheer volume of messages and the support needed to support them. Whether this is true, given that companies that use AI to serve customers, such as banks, airlines and digital retailers, will not be affected is unclear.
WhatsApp's new policy effectively enshrines the “one app, one assistant” strategy, which could cause problems for those who like to use multiple apps on the same platform. For the millions of users who discovered ChatGPT or Perplexity through WhatsApp, the ban marks a significant shift in the way they access these assistants.
Starting next year, they will have to use separate apps or websites instead of communicating via daily messenger. OpenAI is at least taking this news with some humor.
Meta has changed its policy so 1-800-ChatGPT will not work on WhatsApp after January 15, 2026. Luckily, we have an app, website, and browser that you can use to access ChatGPT instead.October 22, 2025
Meta AI's data pipeline gives a company a lot of incentives to negotiate internally. Every chat that happens with Meta AI is another opportunity to refine recommendations and personalize ads. On the other hand, conversations that happen with external assistants are interactions that Meta cannot analyze or monetize.
And Meta's formulation is not necessarily entirely disingenuous. WhatsApp's Business API was built, as the name suggests, for transactions rather than general chats. AI assistants are blurring the line between business and personal use.
However, the policy is written broadly enough that Meta retains complete freedom to define what qualifies as “general purpose AI.” This means that it could theoretically block future apps that it deems competitive or outside its comfort zone, even if they serve a legitimate use case.
Taking control of the Meta is also not unique. Google integrated Gemini into its search and productivity applications, Apple worked with OpenAI to implement ChatGPT in Siri, and Amazon uses Alexa as a gateway to his retail empire. What makes Meta's approach different is WhatsApp's scale and lack of abandonment of Meta AI. You can't even turn off the chatbot.
Users who prefer different assistants have fewer choices, and competitors have less access to them. Imagine if every email app banned third-party filters, except for the filter created by the receiving company. Meta is moving towards this model with WhatsApp.
But if Meta can win with a strategy of owning the chat, the assistant, and the ecosystem, it will likely pay off in terms of profits. WhatsApp will become Meta AI's personal playground, and any other AI there will only exist as long as the company chooses.
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