WhatsApp will now charge AI chatbots to operate in Italy

This is monetization disguised as regulation. Yes, it's an Italy-first move, but watch—other platforms copy this immediately because it's a new revenue stream.

Adds real costs to chatbot ops at scale. A million conversations suddenly costs real money. Small players get priced out, big players absorb it and pass it downstream (higher costs for service-using businesses).

Meta's not wrong, they're just smart about where they introduce new fees.