If you use ChatGPT in WhatsApp, it’s about time to make other plans. OpenAI said its ubiquitous chatbot will stop working in Meta’s ubiquitous chat app on January 15, 2026. According to OpenAI, the change is due to a policy and terms change from WhatsApp.

OpenAI announced the change in a blog post. “While we would have much preferred to continue serving you on WhatsApp, we are focused on making the transition as easy for all of our users as possible,” the company wrote.

WhatsApp doesn’t support chat exports, and there won’t be an automatic way to transfer your chats after the cutoff date. Fortunately, there’s a simple workaround to migrate your chat history right now. Under the 1-800-ChatGPT contact profile in WhatsApp, you’ll see an option to link your ChatGPT account. Select that, and all your queries on WhatsApp will merge with your ChatGPT history.

As for why this is happening, well, we can only speculate. But the term “turf war” comes to mind. After all, Meta is now an AI company, too. And 50 million people using another company’s chatbot inside WhatsApp must not be good for business. Fortunately, ChatGPT is available on the same platforms as WhatsApp: Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and the web.