Brazil Antitrust Authority Suspends Meta's WhatsApp AI Terms to Protect Market Competition

Brazil's Administrative Council for Economic Defense, known as CADE, initiated an administrative inquiry against Meta Platforms on January 12, 2026. The regulator issued a preventive measure to immediately suspend new WhatsApp Business terms that threatened to restrict third-party artificial intelligence tools. This action aims to prevent an abuse of dominant market position and ensure fair competition in the burgeoning AI sector.

The investigation centers on the WhatsApp Business Solution Terms which were scheduled to take effect on January 15. These rules explicitly prohibited API access for services where an open-ended AI assistant was the primary function. CADE researchers flagged that these terms would effectively ban popular startups such as Luzia and Zapia, which offer audio transcription and chat services through the app.

Regulators are specifically looking at a practice called self-preferencing where a platform owner favors its own products over those of rivals. While Meta planned to restrict independent bots, it simultaneously integrated its own Meta AI feature directly into the primary WhatsApp interface. This creates a potential monopoly where the platform owner acts as both the referee and a player in the market.

WhatsApp is currently considered an essential facility in Brazil because it is installed on nearly every smartphone in the country. Losing access to this digital infrastructure could lead to irreparable harm for AI developers whose entire business models rely on the messaging application. To mitigate this risk, CADE imposed a daily fine of R$ 250,000 for any non-compliance with the suspension order.

This Brazilian action mirrors recent scrutiny in the European Union where the European Commission opened a formal probe into similar policies in late 2025. Both jurisdictions are questioning whether Big Tech companies are leveraging social media dominance to conquer the nascent AI assistant market. The CADE decision is notable for its immediate preventive nature which keeps the market open while the full investigation proceeds.

Meta will now have the opportunity to present a defense and argue that the restrictions were necessary for security or platform integrity. CADE will continue to collect information from market participants to evaluate the full extent of potential economic violations. If found guilty, Meta could face fines of up to 20 percent of its gross revenue in the relevant branch of activity. https://www.gov.br/cade/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/cade-abre-inquerito-contra-meta-e-aplica-medida-preventiva-suspendendo-novos-termos-do-whatsapp-sobre-ia