WhatsApp to levy per-message fees on AI chatbots in Italy

Meta will impose pay-per-response charges for AI chatbots that use the WhatsApp Business API in Italy, publishing per-message rates in USD, EUR and GBP and setting the fees to begin on February 16, 2026. The change follows Italian competition authority pressure that compelled Meta to restore limited third-party chatbot access after the company had moved to block such integrations citing operational strain. Meta framed the published fee schedule as a way to meet legal obligations while recovering moderation and infrastructure costs, rather than fully reopening the platform for unfettered free access. The Italian arrangement is localized: Meta has not announced the same pricing or access model for other markets, leaving room for fragmentation across jurisdictions. The fees arrive as part of a wider company push to commercialize AI — including pilots of paid subscription tiers and tighter integration of its Manus agents across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp — underscoring that Meta is seeking recurring revenue streams tied to AI features. WhatsApp poses particular technical and policy challenges due to end-to-end encryption and messaging norms, meaning moderation and safety work associated with AI responses is more complex than on feed-based apps. For developers and startups, the per-message charges turn what was once a free integration into a recurring cost that scales with user volume and conversation depth, pushing some operators to batch requests, shorten replies, or migrate interactions off-platform to control spend. Large enterprises that rely on high-frequency automated messaging will need new cost models or pass charges to customers. Regulators in other countries will watch whether monetizing access satisfies competition and consumer-protection concerns or whether fees act as de facto gatekeeping. Recent legal uncertainty in Brazil demonstrates that enforcement outcomes can differ widely and affect where bots are allowed to operate. Operationally, expect a period of technical change and negotiation as bot makers adapt integration patterns, and for antitrust and consumer agencies to evaluate whether the fee design is justified cost recovery or anti-competitive. In sum, a regulatory concession has been turned into a commercial policy that both recoups Meta’s costs and advances a company-wide approach to monetizing AI, with material implications for developer economics, product design and regulatory oversight.