ChatGPT Returns to WhatsApp After EU Forces Meta to Reopen Business API to Rival AI Bots

Home users of generative AI services have begun seeing <b>ChatGPT</b> working again inside <b>WhatsApp</b>, owned by <b>Meta</b> (recognized as extremist and banned in Russia). The partial restoration follows an EU antitrust investigation that accused Meta of abusing its dominant position to favor its own AI assistant. <b>OpenAI</b> originally launched the integration in 2024, allowing users to message the chatbot like any regular contact without extra apps. In 2025 Meta updated its <b>Business API</b> rules, effectively blocking third-party universal chatbots and pushing competitors out. After the European Commission intervened, Meta was required to reopen access, and <b>ChatGPT</b> is now gradually reappearing for some users. The rollout remains uneven, with some contacts responding normally while others stay silent, and no paid subscription is required. Neither Meta nor OpenAI has officially linked the return to the EU decision.

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ChatGPT has started working again inside WhatsApp (owned by Meta, recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) for a portion of home users. The development suggests that European regulators have succeeded in pushing Meta to reopen access to competing AI chatbots after the company previously restricted them.

OpenAI first introduced ChatGPT to WhatsApp in 2024. Users could interact with the neural network simply by messaging it as an ordinary contact, without installing a separate application or performing additional configuration steps.

Subsequently, Meta aggressively promoted its own AI assistant across WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram (all owned by Meta, recognized as extremist and banned in Russia). In 2025 the company revised the terms of its Business API, introducing new conditions that effectively prohibited third-party companies from distributing universal chatbots through the platform. As a result, ChatGPT and other competing services were quickly excluded.

The European Union did not accept this market clearance. The European Commission launched an antitrust investigation, suspecting that Meta was leveraging the dominant position of WhatsApp to favor its own artificial intelligence. The company was ultimately required to once again grant competing chatbots access to the Business API.

According to Tweakers, ChatGPT is now responding inside WhatsApp again. However, availability remains limited: some users can add the bot and communicate normally, while others see the contact appear but receive no replies. Access does not require a paid ChatGPT subscription.

The uneven rollout may indicate that OpenAI is restoring the integration gradually and is currently testing it in selected regions. Meta and OpenAI have not officially confirmed any connection between the return of ChatGPT and the European Union’s decision.

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