The price is $0.0625. That is what Meta will charge per “non-template message” sent through its WhatsApp Business API by third-party AI chatbot providers in Brazil, starting March 11. It is a number that resolves a regulatory standoff — and, according to developers, may create a new one.
Brazil’s antitrust regulator, CADE, ruled against Meta earlier this week, rejecting the company’s appeal to block an earlier order. That order required Meta to stop enforcing a policy that effectively barred third-party AI chatbots from operating on WhatsApp. The CADE Tribunal found that the requirements for maintaining a preventive measure were met. The case rapporteur, Councilor Carlos Jacques, cited “evidence of legal plausibility, considering the relevance of WhatsApp in the Brazilian instant messaging services market.” The regulator concluded that banning rival chatbots “would not be proportionate” and could cause competitive harm.
Meta’s original policy change came in October last year. It drew scrutiny in multiple jurisdictions, in large part because the company operates its own chatbot — Meta AI — directly inside WhatsApp. The conflict of interest was difficult to ignore. The company argued its Business API was never built with AI chatbots in mind and that such services strain its infrastructure.
A Reluctant Compliance
Meta’s response to the CADE ruling tracks what it announced for European users a day earlier. The company said it would allow third-party providers to use the WhatsApp Business API wherever it is legally required to do so — and charge them for the privilege. “Where we are legally required to provide AI chatbots through the WhatsApp Business API, we are introducing pricing for the companies that choose to use our platform to provide those services,” a company spokesperson said.
The phrasing matters. This is not a voluntary opening of the platform. It is compliance, bounded by jurisdiction, with a fee attached.
Developers who spoke about the pricing described it as high, warning the per-message cost could compound quickly into significant operating expenses. The door is open, but the toll may keep many from walking through it.
The Complaint That Started It
Zapia, one of the companies that filed the original complaint with CADE, welcomed the decision. “Competition and preventing powerful companies from limiting how innovation reaches users,” the company said in a statement. “At Zapia, we believe people should be free to choose the AI tools they use, and innovation only thrives when the platforms people rely on every day remain open.”
The company added that it intends to keep challenging similar restrictions across the rest of Latin America and will watch how Meta adjusts its policies in Brazil to comply with the ruling.
What that compliance looks like at scale — with per-message pricing stacking against developers already skeptical of the cost — is the question the ruling did not answer.
Photo by Edson Junior on Unsplash
This article is a curated summary based on third-party sources. Source: Read the original article
