Meta just threw a curveball at AI chatbot developers - starting February 16, it'll charge them nearly seven cents per message in Italy. The move comes as WhatsApp navigates mounting regulatory pressure across Europe and Brazil after banning third-party AI chatbots in January. What started as a technical capacity issue has morphed into a high-stakes battle over platform control, and developers building on WhatsApp's infrastructure are now facing potentially massive bills.
Meta is making third-party AI developers pay to play on WhatsApp - but only where regulators are twisting its arm. The company announced Wednesday it'll start charging developers $0.0691 per message for AI chatbot responses in Italy, effective February 16. The pricing applies exclusively to regions where Meta is being forced to allow third-party bots after its sweeping ban took effect January 15.
The timing isn't coincidental. Italy's competition watchdog ordered Meta to suspend its chatbot ban last December, making it the first domino to fall in what's becoming a global regulatory showdown. Earlier this month, Meta quietly sent notices to developers carving out an exception for Italian phone numbers - but the company didn't mention charging for the privilege until now.
"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 signals this won't be Italy's problem alone - it's a blueprint for every market where regulators force Meta's hand.
The math gets brutal fast for high-traffic bots. At roughly seven cents per message, a chatbot handling 10,000 daily queries would rack up $691 in charges - per day. Scale that to ChatGPT or search assistant, which were serving WhatsApp users before the ban, and you're looking at potentially six-figure monthly bills. That's a far cry from the template message pricing already charges businesses for transactional updates like shipping notifications and payment reminders.
