EU steps in to "break the ice"

The EU takes action to "break the ice"! ChatGPT returns to Europe with GPT-5.5. After being banned for half a year, OpenAI's ChatGPT officially returned to the European WhatsApp platform on July 13, 2026. This return is due to the strong intervention of the European Commission, but the scope of services is currently limited to the European Economic Area (EEA), including the 27 EU member states as well as Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway. Registration-free, multi-modal minimalist experience. Users in Europe now do not need to register a OpenAI account and can directly interact with the chatbot through the verified official contact number 1-800-ChatGPT (+1-800-242-8478). The service supports highly flexible multi-modal functions, including multi-language text prompts, image uploads, voice messages, and image generation. For a more coherent experience, users can also choose to associate their WhatsApp account with the ChatGPT account, allowing for seamless reading of chat context and synchronization of message history. It is suspected to be equipped with the new GPT-5.5 and gpt-image-2. In terms of model details, the robot claims to be running the GPT-5.5 model in the background. In addition, due to its extremely high image generation speed and accuracy, it is widely speculated that its image generation requests have been routed to the new gpt-image-2 model. However, it is not yet known whether OpenAI has usage restrictions in place when users do not link their personal accounts, or whether it will be quietly downgraded to a lower-cost older model in the background. The EU’s “temporary measures” forcefully demolished the Meta wall. This return is a direct result of the game between giants. As early as January 15, 2026, Meta revised its business rules and high-profile banned the ChatGPT service on WhatsApp. Microsoft's Copilot and Perplexity were also kicked off the platform, leaving only Meta's own AI assistant. This suspected monopolistic behavior immediately attracted regulatory attention. In June 2026, the European Commission issued a "temporary measures" directive, forcing Meta to allow competitors' AI services to come back online for free. While the European market is taking advantage of policies to return to WhatsApp, OpenAI is also actively deploying third-party social platforms in other regions. Currently, ChatGPT is available on Kakao Messenger in South Korea and Viber in some markets. via AI