Meta discreetly revises policy to block rival AI chatbots on WhatsApp

In 2024, Meta introduced its generative Artificial Intelligence (gen AI)-based Meta AI in several of its products, including Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp Messenger.

However, rival chatbot AI brands such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, Perplexity AI and others have become a bit more popular on WhatsApp than what is Meta is comfortable with.

So, the Mark Zuckerberg-owned entity has discreetly updated the WhatsApp Business app user policy by prohibiting rival AI providers from the messenger app.

Meta believes the rival brands may use vast user data in the form of messages exchanged between an individual and WhatsApp Business accounts, which may be used to train their AI models.

"AI Providers. Providers and developers of artificial intelligence or machine learning technologies, including but not limited to large language models, generative artificial intelligence platforms, general-purpose artificial intelligence assistants, or similar technologies as determined by Meta in its sole discretion ('AI Providers'), are strictly prohibited from accessing or using the WhatsApp Business Solution, whether directly or indirectly, for the purposes of providing, delivering, offering, selling, or otherwise making available such technologies when such technologies are the primary (rather than incidental or ancillary) functionality being made available for use, as determined by Meta in its sole discretion," reads the revised WhatsApp Business policy.

Several business users are deploying third-party gen AI APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to power their customer care services, like replying to queries such as a product's features, availability, or item delivery delays.

During the conversation, businesses and even the gen AI service providers will also learn customers' behaviour. These data are valuable to improving not just in terms of the product's quality but also enhancing gen AI's long-context memory to understand more complex queries, and respond better, more accurately in the future.

For now, businesses can use custom third-party AI APIs to enhance customer service, but cannot directly deploy standalone AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Perplexity AI and others.

The new policy will come into effect on January 15, 2026. Given that WhatsApp has 200 million active business accounts catering to more than three billion users worldwide, Meta's latest change in user policy is a purely business strategy. It just wants to have more data to make Meta AI better.

There is intense rivalry building up in the generative AI space in the technology sector.

It can be noted that Zuckerberg is building a 'Superintelligence' AI team consisting of globally renowned gen AI researchers and experts. He is reportedly offering massive packages up to nine-figure salaries.

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