ChatGPT in WhatsApp will stop working in January (www.engadget.com)

OpenAI announced that ChatGPT access inside WhatsApp will be discontinued on January 15, 2026, citing a change in WhatsApp’s policies and terms. Users should prepare to migrate their histories because WhatsApp doesn’t support chat exports and there will be no automatic transfer after the cutoff. You can, however, link your ChatGPT account now via the 1-800-ChatGPT contact in WhatsApp to merge your WhatsApp queries into your ChatGPT history. ChatGPT itself will still be available on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and the web. For the AI/ML community this is a reminder that platform policy and interoperability are as important as model quality. The shutdown underscores risks around third‑party integrations: reliance on host platforms can abruptly affect distribution, data portability, and user continuity. It also highlights strategic competition between platform owners (e.g., Meta) and external AI providers: hosting limits, export restrictions, or new native AI features can reshape where and how models are deployed. Practically, teams should prioritize exportable logs, account-linking flows, and multi‑channel deployment to reduce single‑point failures when integrating LLMs with large messaging platforms.