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WhatsApp's Policy on AI Chatbots: Exemptions for Brazilian Numbers Amid Regulatory Scrutiny

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In a significant development, WhatsApp is permitting AI providers to continue offering chatbots to users with Brazilian phone numbers, despite days earlier facing an order from Brazil's competition regulator, CADE, to suspend its new policy. This policy bars third-party, general-purpose chatbots through WhatsApp's business API and was set to enforce cessation of these services from January 15, 2026. Key details include:

  • Meta's Policy: It mandates a 90-day period for chatbots to stop responding and to notify users, but an exemption is now in place for Brazilian users.
  • Regulatory Response: CADE will investigate the policy's potential favoritism towards Meta's own AI services. Similar exemptions have been provided in Italy, with the EU conducting an antitrust investigation.
  • Meta's Stance: The company argues that AI chatbots overload systems not designed for such volume, maintaining alternative routes to market for AI companies outside of WhatsApp.
  • No Immediate Response: WhatsApp has not confirmed these developments publicly. These issues are part of a broader context involving national and international regulatory scrutiny of tech giants' policies.