OpenAI has re-enabled ChatGPT on WhatsApp, but only in the European Economic Area, covering the 27 EU member states plus Liechtenstein, Iceland, and Norway. Users have been able to reach the chatbot since July 13, 2026, through the verified contact 1-800-CHATGPT (+1-800-242-8478), no account required. Text prompts, image uploads, voice messages, and image generation all work across many languages. When asked, the bot says it runs on GPT-5.5. Given the prompt precision of the image generation, those requests appear to be routed to gpt-image-2. Users can also link their WhatsApp account to their ChatGPT account so the chat can pull in context from OpenAI and sync message history. It is not yet entirely clear what usage limits apply without linking accounts. OpenAI could also be quietly routing requests to older, less expensive models.
Meta banned ChatGPT from WhatsApp on January 15, 2026, after changing its business rules. Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity were also kicked off the platform. Only Meta's own AI assistant stayed. In June 2026, the European Commission ordered interim measures forcing Meta to let competitors back on for free. OpenAI is also launching ChatGPT on the Kakao messenger in South Korea and on Viber in other markets.
Source: thedecoder
