Brazil’s competition authority has ordered WhatsApp to suspend a controversial policy that prevents third-party artificial intelligence companies from offering chatbots on the messaging platform, opening a new front in a growing global regulatory challenge to Meta’s AI strategy.
The order, issued by the Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (CADE), also launches a formal investigation into whether the policy violates competition rules by shutting out rivals and tilting the market in favor of Meta’s own AI products. At the center of the probe is Meta AI, the company’s in-house chatbot that is integrated directly into WhatsApp.
In a statement, CADE said preliminary findings point to “possible anti-competitive conduct of an exclusive nature” stemming from the new WhatsApp Business Solution Terms imposed by Meta. According to the agency, those terms may restrict access by independent AI providers and unfairly privilege Meta’s own technology within one of the world’s most widely used messaging platforms.
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The policy in question was announced in October, when Meta revised the rules governing access to the WhatsApp Business API. Under the new terms, third-party AI companies are barred from using the API to deliver chatbots to users. OpenAI, Perplexity, and Microsoft soon warned developers that their chatbots would no longer function on WhatsApp once the policy takes effect on January 15.
At the same time, Meta carved out an important exception. Businesses are still allowed to deploy their own chatbots, whether AI-powered or rule-based, to communicate with customers on WhatsApp. That distinction has drawn scrutiny from regulators, who are questioning whether Meta is selectively restricting competition at the platform level while preserving room for its own AI ambitions.
CADE said its investigation will examine whether the new rules are exclusionary in practice and whether they amount to preferential treatment for Meta AI. The watchdog’s decision forces WhatsApp to pause enforcement of the policy in Brazil while the review is underway, a move that could have immediate implications for developers and enterprises operating in the country.
The European Union has already opened an antitrust investigation into the same policy, and Italian authorities have taken similar steps. Under EU competition law, a finding against Meta could result in fines of up to 10% of the company’s global revenue, a penalty large enough to reshape how the firm rolls out AI features across its platforms.
Meta has already shown some flexibility under regulatory pressure. According to a notice seen by TechCrunch, the company told AI developers that they may continue offering chatbots on WhatsApp in Italy even after the January 15 deadline. That carve-out suggests Meta is willing to apply its rules unevenly by jurisdiction, depending on the legal risks involved. A comparable adjustment in Brazil is now a realistic possibility following CADE’s order.
For Meta, the dispute sits at the intersection of infrastructure limits, platform control, and competitive strategy. The company has argued that third-party AI chatbots place heavy demands on systems originally built for customer support and transactional messaging, not conversational AI at scale. From Meta’s perspective, restricting API access is a technical and operational necessity rather than a competitive maneuver.
“The purpose of the WhatsApp Business API is to help businesses provide customer support and send relevant updates,” a Meta spokesperson said when the changes were announced in October. “Our focus is on supporting the tens of thousands of businesses who are building these experiences on WhatsApp.”
Meta has also pointed out that users who want access to a variety of AI chatbots can do so outside WhatsApp, a position that aligns with its broader claim that it is not obligated to host every AI service within its ecosystem.
Regulators, however, appear unconvinced that technical strain alone explains the policy. WhatsApp’s scale in markets like Brazil gives it enormous gatekeeping power. With hundreds of millions of users, exclusion from the platform can sharply limit the reach of rival AI services, particularly in countries where WhatsApp functions as a primary digital interface for communication, commerce, and customer service.
The investigation raises broader questions about how dominant platforms integrate AI while maintaining open markets. As messaging apps evolve into hubs for payments, shopping, and automated assistance, control over APIs increasingly determines who can compete and who cannot. CADE’s move signals concern that Meta may be using its control over WhatsApp to shape the AI landscape before clear regulatory rules are in place.
The outcome in Brazil could influence regulatory thinking elsewhere, particularly in emerging markets where WhatsApp plays a central economic role. It also places Meta in a familiar position of defending platform decisions that regulators see as potentially anti-competitive, at a time when governments are paying closer attention to how AI power is concentrated and deployed.