WhatsApp to charge AI chatbots per message in Italy
From February 16, Meta will charge about 7 cents per AI chatbot message in Italy. Elsewhere, third-party chatbots have been banned.
Meta announced that from February 16 it will charge companies running AI chatbots on WhatsApp in Italy.
Pricing
| Currency | Per message |
|---|---|
| USD | $0.0691 |
| EUR | €0.0572 |
| GBP | £0.0498 |
Why only Italy?
- Since January 15, WhatsApp has banned third-party AI chatbots (such as ChatGPT)
- In December, Italy's competition authority ordered Meta to suspend that policy
- So in Italy, instead of a ban, Meta introduced a fee
- A court in Brazil sided with Meta
A Meta spokesperson said: "We are introducing pricing for companies that use our platform."
What it means for the region
In Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, this means third-party AI chatbots will no longer work easily on WhatsApp. WhatsApp's own Meta AI stays.
Founder and editor-in-chief of Kurd Developers. Phone and tech news on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
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