EU orders meta to unlock whatsapp for other ai

Since July 13th, 2026, ChatGPT is available again on WhatsApp. But only within the European Economic Area (EU + Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway). Meta had blocked ChatGPT in January and turned WhatsApp into a walled garden for their own AI assistant. In June 2026, the European Commission declared this practice anti-competitive and required Meta to make their AI platform accessible to others.

You can now use ChatGPT without signing up by calling +1-800-CHATGPT (+1-800-242-8478). It’s powered by GPT-5.5 and works with text, voice, images, gpt-image-2, and many languages. You can even connect your WhatsApp account with a ChatGPT profile so you don’t lose track of your conversations. Or just stay anonymous.

This is the first case where a regulatory body forces a large company to share their AI platform with others. And it makes sense: why should a messaging service with a billion users be restricted to one AI assistant? This will surely pave the way for more openness in other walled gardens like iOS, Android, and smart speakers.