If you're one of the millions of people using the WhatsApp versions of tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT, bad news -- you'll only have a few more months to enjoy the service.
Meta has banned general purpose chatbots from the platform, following a recent change to the terms and conditions of the WhatsApp Business API, first spotted by TechCrunch.
The move could impact the WhatsApp clients of tools like ChatGPT, which launched in December 2024, along with numerous other WhatsApp chatbots that have appeared over the past year. These include AI search engine Perplexity's WhatsApp chatbot, which launched in April of this year, as well as lesser-known products like Latin America focused chatbot Luzia.
The good news is that the new ban won't come into effect until Jan. 15, 2026, giving users months to find replacement solutions.
Following the change, "large language models, generative artificial intelligence platforms, general-purpose artificial intelligence assistants, or similar technologies" are now strictly prohibited from accessing or using the WhatsApp Business Solution "when such technologies are the primary (rather than incidental or ancillary) functionality being made available for use."
While general purpose chatbots like ChatGPT will be banned going forward, businesses will be allowed to maintain their own consumer-facing chatbots for interacting with customers. For example, a local takeaway firm managing its orders. And while users won't be able to chat directly with general purpose chatbots via WhatsApp Business, companies will still be able to use data gathered via the messaging app for AI training.
This means Meta AI, launched in August 2024, will now be the sole chatbot general purpose chatbot available on the platform. Justifying the move, Meta told TechCrunch that it banned business API use cases falling outside "the intended design and strategic focus" of the API, adding that third-party chatbots were placing a burden on its systems and support teams.
Meta.ai, though launching years after competitors like Google Gemini, may be catching up to its long-established rivals. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed in May that his company had hit one billion monthly users across its AI tools -- though it was unclear exactly how many of those monthly users were interacting with the tool directly.