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Meta charges AI chatbot devs $0.07/msg on WhatsApp in Italy
WhatsApp introduces per-message fees for AI chatbots after regulatory pushback
PUBLISHED: Wed, Jan 28, 2026, 8:17 PM UTC | UPDATED: Thu, Jan 29, 2026, 4:02 PM UTC
4 mins read
Meta will charge developers $0.0691 per message for AI chatbot responses on WhatsApp in Italy starting February 16, according to TechCrunch
The pricing applies only where regulators force Meta to allow third-party bots, currently just Italy after the country's competition watchdog suspended Meta's ban in December
Developers running high-volume chatbots could face steep bills with thousands of daily user queries at nearly 7 cents each
Meta spokesperson confirmed this sets a precedent for other regions if the company must allow AI chatbots elsewhere amid ongoing EU and Brazil probes
Meta just turned regulatory compliance into a revenue stream. The company announced Wednesday it will charge developers nearly seven cents per message to run AI chatbots on WhatsApp in Italy, starting February 16. The move marks a dramatic pivot from Meta's outright ban on third-party AI chatbots that took effect January 15, and it could reshape how AI companies think about distribution on messaging platforms. What began as a technical limitation argument has evolved into a new business model that could spread to other markets facing similar regulatory scrutiny.
Meta is making developers pay for the privilege of operating AI chatbots on WhatsApp, but only where regulators are forcing its hand. The company announced the new per-message pricing structure Wednesday, setting rates at $0.0691 per AI response in Italy, the first market where antitrust authorities blocked Meta's controversial bot ban.
The pricing kicks in February 16 and applies specifically to non-template responses from AI chatbots operating through WhatsApp's Business API. For developers running conversational AI services that field thousands of queries daily, the math gets expensive fast. A chatbot handling 10,000 messages per day would rack up roughly $691 in daily fees, or over $20,000 monthly, just for the WhatsApp access.
"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 Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch. The carefully worded statement suggests Meta views this as a compliance tax rather than a desired feature.
The announcement caps a turbulent few months for AI developers who built businesses on WhatsApp's massive user base. Meta first dropped the hammer last October when it announced it would block all third-party AI chatbots from WhatsApp, citing technical strain on systems that weren't designed to handle AI-generated responses at scale. The company argued WhatsApp shouldn't be treated as a de facto app store for AI services.
That January 15 ban sent shockwaves through the AI community. OpenAI, Perplexity, and Microsoft all notified users their WhatsApp bots would stop working, redirecting them to standalone apps and websites. Developers were reduced to sending pre-defined messages urging users to access their AI services elsewhere.
But regulators in multiple jurisdictions saw the move differently. Italy's competition watchdog suspended Meta's policy in December, viewing it as potentially anticompetitive behavior that locked out rivals while Meta developed its own AI features. The European Union launched a formal investigation into whether the ban violated competition rules.
Earlier this month, Meta quietly sent notices to developers creating an exemption for Italian phone numbers, allowing AI chatbots to serve those customers again. At the time, the company made no mention of fees. The pricing announcement appears to be Meta's way of monetizing what it views as an unwanted obligation.
The per-message rate dwarfs WhatsApp's existing charges for template messages, which companies use for transactional communications like shipping updates and payment reminders. Those standardized messages cost far less because they don't require the computational overhead of AI-generated responses, Meta argues.
Brazil initially followed Italy's lead, with regulators ordering Meta to suspend the bot ban. But a Brazilian court sided with Meta last week and overturned the preliminary order, allowing the ban to stand. TechCrunch learned Meta has since instructed developers not to provide AI chatbot services to Brazilian users.
The Italy-specific pricing creates a precedent that could spread if Meta loses regulatory battles in other markets. The EU investigation remains ongoing, and a ruling against Meta could force the company to open WhatsApp to AI chatbots across the 27-member bloc. At nearly seven cents per message across Europe's massive WhatsApp user base, the revenue potential would be substantial, but so would the infrastructure costs Meta claims are unsustainable.
For AI companies, the calculus just got complicated. WhatsApp offers direct access to over 2 billion users, but at $0.0691 per interaction, developers need to either pass costs to users, find ways to monetize conversations aggressively, or accept razor-thin margins. The pricing essentially forces AI chatbot providers to prove their services generate enough value to justify the distribution toll.
Meta's strategy appears designed to discourage AI chatbot usage on WhatsApp even where regulators mandate access. By setting prices high enough to strain developer economics, the company creates a financial barrier that achieves through pricing what it couldn't accomplish through an outright ban. Whether regulators view this as legitimate cost recovery or anticompetitive pricing remains to be seen.
Meta's new pricing model for AI chatbots on WhatsApp represents more than just a fee structure – it's a template for how platform giants might respond when regulators force them to open their ecosystems. By charging rates that make high-volume AI interactions economically challenging, Meta has found a middle ground that technically complies with regulatory mandates while preserving its ability to control the platform's AI future. As the EU investigation continues and other markets weigh similar interventions, the Italy experiment will serve as a real-world test of whether AI developers find enough value in WhatsApp's massive reach to absorb the per-message costs. For now, the message to AI companies is clear: access to WhatsApp's 2 billion users comes with a price tag that might just be too steep to pay.
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