WhatsApp is quietly doing something that a lot of big tech platforms are going to be forced to do more and more often: it’s running different AI rules in different countries, even when the product is the same.
Here’s what happened. WhatsApp recently introduced a new policy that blocks third-party, general-purpose AI chatbots from being offered on the app through its Business API. In plain terms, this affects bots like ChatGPT and Grok — the kinds of tools people use for open-ended conversations — not customer service bots that businesses run for support and basic automation.
WhatsApp gave AI providers a 90-day grace period starting January 15, telling them they’d eventually need to stop replying to user messages on WhatsApp and send a notice explaining the bot won’t work anymore. But now Brazil is getting a carve-out. Meta told developers that, for users with Brazilian phone numbers (country code +55), they don’t have to stop responding and they don’t need to warn users about any changes. The restriction simply doesn’t apply there, at least for now.
That exception didn’t come out of nowhere. Brazil’s competition regulator, CADE, recently ordered WhatsApp to suspend the new policy while it investigates whether Meta’s rules unfairly block competitors and give Meta’s own chatbot, Meta AI, an advantage. And Brazil isn’t the first place where regulators have pushed back. WhatsApp previously offered a similar exemption in Italy after concerns were raised there too, and the European Union has also opened an antitrust investigation into the policy.
Meta’s argument is that this isn’t about picking winners — it’s about infrastructure. WhatsApp says general-purpose AI chatbots put a strain on systems that were built for a different use case, and that WhatsApp shouldn’t be treated like an “app store” for AI companies. In Meta’s view, if people want to use a range of AI bots, they can do it through app stores, websites, and partnerships outside WhatsApp.
But the bigger takeaway is the pattern this creates. When the rules suddenly change depending on where you live — and exceptions show up only after regulators step in — it’s a reminder that platform policies aren’t just about product design anymore. They’re also about legal pressure, competition concerns, and market strategy, all happening in real time.
For developers and AI providers, this kind of region-by-region decision-making creates a messy reality: what’s allowed on WhatsApp in São Paulo might not be allowed in Rome, even if the technology is identical. And as governments worldwide start paying closer attention to AI competition and platform dominance, it’s hard not to see this as the beginning of a much more fragmented future — where access to AI tools isn’t determined by what the product can do, but by which regulators are watching.
This analysis is based on reporting from TechCrunch.
Image courtesy of Unsplash.
This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.
