Meta-owned WhatsApp just updated its terms to prohibit general-purpose AI chatbots from operating on its platform — even those built using Meta’s own Llama models. On the surface, this might seem like a reasonable effort to prevent bot spam or low-quality interactions. But dig deeper, and you’ll see something more troubling.
It stifles innovation
WhatsApp is not just a messaging app. It’s the largest real-time communication platform on the planet. Banning independent AI agents limits the ability of startups, developers, and enterprise innovators to use WhatsApp as a front end for intelligent services — everything from customer support to virtual advisors.
It locks out competition
Meta is fine with businesses using Meta-approved bots, especially those powered by Meta AI or integrated via Meta’s partner APIs. Everyone else? Denied. This isn’t about protecting users. It’s about protecting turf. If you’re not playing by Meta’s rules — and using their stack — you’re out.
It sets a dangerous precedent
If other platforms follow suit — think iMessage, Telegram, Discord — the open conversational layer of the internet could become a walled garden. The promise of a neutral, programmable messaging interface that AI could plug into is fading fast.
It breaks interoperability
In your earlier writings on VoIP, Andy, you championed platforms that fostered open standards like SIP, XMPP, and later WebRTC — because they enabled anyone to build. Blocking third-party bots on WhatsApp is the opposite: it’s fragmentation in the name of control .
Why AI Is Starting to Look Like Monopoly
Remember the game of Monopoly? One player slowly buys up everything, charges rents no one can afford, and eventually controls the board. That’s exactly what’s happening in AI right now:
Meta, OpenAI, Google, Amazon, Apple — the Big 5 are buying the board.
- They own the models.
- They own the platforms (chat, mobile, voice).
- And now they’re dictating who gets to play and how.
Interoperability is being sacrificed for lock-in.
WhatsApp should be the phone number for the AI era — instead, it’s becoming the landline controlled by a monopoly-era telco. It’s as if Ma Bell is back, only this time with AI.
Innovation is being crushed under “compliance.”
Developers are boxed into limited templates and use cases, while the major players build private APIs, closed integrations, and proprietary agent frameworks. Build outside the sandbox, and you’re violating TOS.
The game is rigged for the incumbents.
Meta can deploy Meta AI to 2 billion users. No startup can reach that scale without Meta’s blessing. Meanwhile, Meta blocks other LLMs from using WhatsApp. It’s a “we can, you can’t” double standard.
“As autonomous agents rise, messaging apps are starting to look like the next app store. Meta sees that, but their own AI isn’t ready for prime time. so instead of competing, they’re clearing the field. By banning other AI assistants from WhatsApp, Meta is buying itself time to mature its own bot. Don’t be surprised if, in a few months, they open it up, but only if developers are willing to pay a 30% cut to play.” sald Florian Pariset, founder and CEO of Notis.Ai, the first AI Assistant app to use WhatsApp, Telegram and iMessage as the user interface.”
Final Thought
This move isn’t about safety. It’s about stacking the deck. We’ve seen this before in the early days of VoIP, mobile, and even the cloud — open platforms gradually closing off once scale was achieved. What’s happening now with AI on messaging platforms is part of the same cycle. If we’re not careful, we’ll end up with five AI monopolies dictating how conversations happen — not between people, but between users and corporations.
And that’s not innovation. That’s just another Monopoly game, with Big Tech holding all the hotels.