Meta-owned end-to-end encrypted messaging service with more than three billion monthly users.
Brussels and Meta are fighting over who may plug AI assistants into WhatsApp: on 9 June 2026 the European Commission ordered the Business API reopened to rival assistants, while Meta's third offer would charge them above a usage threshold.
Last refreshed: 12 October 2026 · Appears in 2 active topics
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Meta has run WhatsApp since buying it in 2014, and Mark Zuckerberg told investors in April 2025 that the app had passed 3 billion monthly users. Personal chats on WhatsApp carry end-to-end encryption by default. In June 2026 Meta named Kunal Shah, founder of the Indian fintech CRED, as Head of WhatsApp, replacing Will Cathcart after about seven years; Meta paired the appointment with a $900m investment in CRED.
WhatsApp messaging itself costs users nothing. Meta One, the subscription Meta launched on 27 May 2026 at $7.99 to $19.99 a month, sells extra AI capacity across Meta's apps without putting a price on the core service. In Iran, WhatsApp still needed a workaround after Tehran ended its 2,093-hour internet blackout in late May 2026.
WhatsApp's reach also makes it a delivery route for state hackers. On 15 September 2026 Britain's NCSC, the FBI and the Dutch AIVD said Iranian operators befriend dissidents and journalists on WhatsApp and Telegram, then send fake documents such as medical scans that install the CHOSEN BRICK spyware.
Rival assistants win back their route in
WhatsApp's Business API had been restricted to Meta AI until 9 June 2026, when the Commission used Article 102 interim measures to order the interface restored for competing assistants within five working days. The order runs to June 2029, and Meta risks fines of up to 10% of global turnover if WhatsApp stays shut to them.
Meta's answer was a third interoperability proposal: rivals would reach WhatsApp users free up to a usage threshold and pay beyond it. the Commission is reviewing that offer under the Digital Markets Act. For Mistral and other European assistant makers, WhatsApp's 3 billion users make this the distribution channel that matters most, so the price Meta sets above that threshold decides how open WhatsApp really becomes.
Is WhatsApp becoming a paid app in 2026?
Who owns WhatsApp?
Why did the EU order Meta to reopen WhatsApp's API to other AI apps?
Was WhatsApp available in Iran during the 2026 internet blackout?
What does the EU antitrust ruling on WhatsApp mean for other messaging platforms?
Who runs WhatsApp?
How do Iranian hackers use WhatsApp to spread spyware?
How many people use WhatsApp?
Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 12 October 2026. Editorial standards.