Meta has announced that it will allow external AI chatbot providers to operate on WhatsApp in Europe through its Business API for a limited period, a move aimed at easing regulatory pressure from the European Commission.
The company said the arrangement will remain in place for the next 12 months while regulators continue investigating Meta’s earlier policy that restricted third-party AI chatbot providers from accessing the WhatsApp Business API. That policy had drawn complaints from several AI companies and prompted scrutiny from European competition authorities.
“For the next 12 months, we’ll support general-purpose AI chatbots using the WhatsApp Business API in Europe in response to the European Commission’s regulatory process,” Meta said in an emailed statement. “We believe that this removes the need for any immediate intervention as it gives the European Commission the time it needs to conclude its investigation.”
Under the revised framework, developers of AI assistants will be able to integrate their chatbots with WhatsApp through the Business API, but they will be required to pay usage fees. The pricing will vary by country, ranging from €0.0490 to €0.1323 per “non-template message.” Because AI assistant conversations often involve many back-and-forth messages, the cost of operating such services on the platform could become significant for third-party providers.
The European Commission confirmed that it is reviewing the implications of Meta’s changes. A spokesperson for the Commission said the regulator is assessing how the new arrangement may affect its ongoing investigation into possible interim measures, as well as a broader antitrust inquiry into the company’s conduct.
The dispute began after Meta implemented the policy on January 15 that prevented external AI chatbot providers from offering their services through the WhatsApp Business API. The change triggered complaints from several companies developing AI assistants, which argued that the restriction harmed competition and disrupted their ability to reach users through the messaging platform.
The policy specifically targeted general-purpose AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude, or similar conversational AI services. However, businesses using AI tools to assist customers through WhatsApp were not affected. For example, retailers deploying AI-powered customer service bots to send templated responses through the Business API were still allowed to operate normally.
Meta had previously defended the restriction by stating that general-purpose AI chatbots place heavy technical demands on WhatsApp’s infrastructure, which was originally designed primarily for structured business messaging rather than continuous conversational interactions.
“The AI space is highly competitive, and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems,” the company said in an earlier statement.
Regulators across several regions have taken interest in the issue since Meta introduced the policy last October. Authorities in the European Union, Italy, and Brazil launched investigations to determine whether the move was anti-competitive, particularly because Meta operates its own AI assistant, Meta AI, directly within WhatsApp.
The company had already begun easing restrictions earlier this year by allowing developers in Italy to integrate AI chatbots through the platform’s API. The latest decision expands that approach across Europe for the duration of the regulatory review, giving authorities additional time to determine whether Meta’s policies comply with competition rules.
