Meta Suspends Cade's Decision on Chatbots in WhatsApp

Meta has obtained a court order that suspends the requirement to allow third-party artificial intelligence chatbots on WhatsApp Business. The decision was issued by the 20th Federal Court of the Federal District on Wednesday (21) and alters the previous ruling by Cade, which would fine Meta R$ 250,000 per day if it did not comply.

The action by Cade was carried out following complaints from startups accusing Meta of restricting access to its API, which allows competitors to use WhatsApp. This measure had been in effect since the 12th, when the antitrust agency determined that the company could not obstruct the operation of services that compete with Meta AI.

Progress of the Antitrust Inquiry

Cade made this decision based on allegations from Factoria Elcano S.L. and Brainlogic AI S.A.S., responsible for the LuzIA and Zapia services, respectively. The companies claimed that Meta modified the app's terms to harm competition.

• The startups alleged that the changes impacted their intelligent assistants on WhatsApp;
• This blockage also affected other popular AIs, such as ChatGPT and Copilot;
• In response, Cade ordered the suspension of clauses that restrict bots from companies not belonging to Meta;
• Additionally, Meta was instructed not to create new terms that could have similar effects, as it could be fined for non-compliance.

In its defense, Meta argued that the WhatsApp API is primarily intended for customer service and marketing, emphasizing that uses outside this focus violate its policies. Allegations pointed out that its servers were overloaded due to unrelated activities.

Before the court order, Meta had already requested Cade to revoke the decision through an appeal. Although the order is effective immediately, it may be reviewed later.

It is important to note that, despite the suspension, the inquiry conducted by Cade continues, investigating practices that may constitute monopoly. The outcome could result in a formal process or a potential dismissal of the case.

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