Meta, WhatsApp’s parent company, has implemented a new charging policy that directly affects developers who use the messaging platform to offer services based on artificial intelligence. The measure, which took effect on February 16, establishes a fee for each message generated by third-party AI chatbots, a significant change that reshapes the landscape for companies operating in the app’s ecosystem.
The new fee was initially set at Itália, where each response from an AI robot not based on pre-approved models will cost developers €0.0572. Esta decision comes at a time of increasing regulatory tension and fierce competition in the virtual assistant market, impacting the way companies interact with their customers through the popular messaging app.
While the charge applies to external systems, such as those developed by other technology giants, the company’s own assistant, the Meta AI, remains completely free of charge. Essa exemption creates a clear competitive advantage for the platform’s native solution, encouraging its adoption by companies seeking to optimize operational costs.
Details of the new pricing policy
The charging structure announced by Meta is specific and aims to differentiate the types of automated communication. The fee of €0.0572 applies exclusively to responses generated by artificial intelligence that are dynamic and do not follow the message templates previously approved by the WhatsApp Business platform.
Communications that remain exempt from the new fee include messages initiated by human users and automatic responses that use standardized templates. Essa distinction seeks to balance the financial impact on companies, allowing simpler and more standardized service flows to continue operating under previous pricing rules, without additional costs per message.
The regulatory context in Itália
The implementation of this tariff was not an isolated decision by Meta, but a direct response to a determination by the Italian antitrust authority, the AGCM. In December 2025, the regulatory body ordered the company to lift the ban on third-party chatbots on the platform, considering the practice an abuse of its dominant position in the messaging app market.
Faced with the obligation to allow competitors access, Meta argued that the volume of interactions generated by these external AI systems imposes a significant burden on its infrastructure, increasing operation and maintenance costs. The company states that the new tariff is a necessary measure to recover part of these investments and sustain the quality of the service.
Meta informed that it is appealing the AGCM’s decision, but, while the legal process takes place, the charge will remain in force as a way of complying with the determination and, at the same time, managing the associated operational costs. The outcome of this case is closely monitored by other regulatory bodies, including Comissão Europeia.
Immediate reaction from big technology companies
The most immediate consequence of the new pricing policy was the removal of important AI assistants from the platform. Grandes names in the technology sector reacted quickly, considering integration financially unfeasible under the new conditions imposed by Meta.
OpenAI, creator of the popular ChatGPT, was one of the first to announce the interruption of its chatbot service via WhatsApp. The company announced that it would no longer be possible to access its artificial intelligence assistant directly through the messaging application, advising users to use their official platforms.
Following the same path, Microsoft also disabled the integration of its assistant, Copilot, with WhatsApp. The decision reflects the assessment that the additional costs per message would make the service unsustainable for large-scale operations within the application.
Other developers, such as Perplexity, also confirmed the discontinuation of their AI assistants on WhatsApp. The joint move by these companies signals a significant shift in the market, forcing users to migrate to other channels, such as dedicated apps or websites, to interact with their preferred AI tools.
Implications for the developer ecosystem
The introduction of the fee represents a considerable challenge for the developer ecosystem, especially for small and medium-sized businesses that have built their business models around the WhatsApp Business API. The cost per message, although it may seem low in isolation, can quickly add up in operations with a high volume of customer interactions, generating a substantial financial impact. Essa new cost barrier can inhibit innovation and make it difficult for new competitors to enter the chatbot market, as initial investment and operating costs become higher.
Companies that rely on the platform to provide automated customer service, technical support or consulting services now face a complex strategic decision. Options include absorbing costs, which can compromise profit margins; pass on the new rate to end customers, risking loss of competitiveness; or, ultimately, seek alternative platforms with more flexible and cost-effective API policies. The change forces a complete reassessment of digital engagement strategies and the viability of operating within the Meta-controlled environment.
Meta’s strategy and the advancement of Meta AI
The new charging policy is widely seen by market analysts not just as a measure to cover infrastructure costs, but as a strategic move calculated to strengthen the position of Meta AI, the company’s proprietary artificial intelligence assistant. By making third-party solutions more expensive and therefore less attractive, Meta creates an enabling environment for its own tool to become the default option for businesses and users within WhatsApp. Lançado in March 2025, Meta AI, based on the advanced LLaMA language model, offers a range of functionality, from text and image generation to complex conversational support, all free of charge and natively integrated into the application. Essa cost relief acts as a powerful incentive for adoption, driving traffic and ecosystem dependency towards its own solution, consolidating its dominance in the field of conversational AI within the world’s most popular messaging platform.
Scenario on Brasil and global monitoring
In Brasil, Conselho Administrativo of Autoridades Brazilian companies and those from other regions continue to monitor developments in Europa, as the final decision in Itália could establish an important precedent for the regulation of digital platforms on a global scale.
