Brazil’s competition authority CADE has ordered WhatsApp to suspend enforcement of new terms that restrict third-party AI companies from using its business API to offer chatbots on the platform, while opening an investigation into potential anti-competitive conduct. The regulator said it is examining whether the updated WhatsApp Business Solution Terms, introduced by Meta, unfairly exclude competitors and favor Meta AI, the company’s own chatbot.
Meta updated its WhatsApp Business API terms in October, barring external AI providers from offering chatbots through the app starting January 15, while continuing to allow businesses to deploy their own automated systems. Following the change, companies including OpenAI, Microsoft, and Perplexity indicated they would be unable to operate chatbots on WhatsApp.
CADE’s action follows similar antitrust scrutiny in the European Union and Italy, where regulators are also assessing the policy’s impact on competition. Meta has said the restrictions are intended to manage system capacity and maintain the API’s focus on customer support use cases.
