Meta to ban general-purpose chatbots on WhatsApp

California (Web Desk): Meta has announced a significant change to WhatsApp’s privacy policy, deciding to remove general-purpose chatbots from the platform. This new policy will come into effect on January 15, 2026.

In its clarification, Meta stated that the new restriction will not apply to businesses that use artificial intelligence for customer service, such as retailers, airlines, or travel agents.

Under the updated policy, AI companies like Perplexity, Lusia, OpenAI, and POK will no longer be able to use their chatbots or generative AI features as a primary service through WhatsApp’s business solutions.

Meta explained that the WhatsApp Business API was designed to assist businesses in providing customer support and sending updates, rather than facilitating full-scale AI chatbot services.

According to tech experts, the rapid increase in the use of general-purpose chatbots over the past year had placed a heavy burden on WhatsApp’s infrastructure, leading to an extraordinary rise in message volumes and the need for a new support framework.

Meta emphasized that this change is necessary to ensure the platform remains aligned with the original design and strategic intent of the Business API. After the policy is enforced, third-party AI assistants will no longer be able to operate on WhatsApp, and only Meta’s own AI will be integrated as the chatbot service on the platform.