WhatsApp going backwards – ChatGPT is being ditched soon

Don't worry though, you can save your chats if you're quick

WhatsApp and other social networks on iPhone
(Image credit: Matt Cardy / Getty Images)
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OpenAI has announced that Meta is dropping ChatGPT support on WhatsApp early next year.

The support will end on 15 January 2026, but if you link your ChatGPT account to WhatsApp, you can save your conversation history.

Messaging app WhatsApp is well-known for adding a wealth of features regularly. Rarely a few months go by without some neat new trick being added to the range of things you can do beyond messaging your friends. Sometimes, that's things like adding a chat theme, other times it is the ability to lock WhatsApp chats with a special code.

How to save your ChatGPT WhatsApp chats

As reported by 9to5Mac, Chat GPT will no longer be supported on WhatsApp from January. According to the site, OpenAI, the company that owns ChatGPT, has said Meta is shutting down ChatGPT integration for 50 million WhatsApp users.

In a blog post on the transition, OpenAI said: "We’ve loved seeing more than 50 million of you chat, create, and learn with ChatGPT on WhatsApp. The simplicity and familiarity of messaging made it a natural home for everyday creativity and curiosity.

"Unfortunately, due to a policy and terms change from WhatsApp, ChatGPT will no longer be available on WhatsApp after January 15, 2026. 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."

As part of its commitment, OpenAI is ensuring that "you can keep your chats going in ChatGPT – available on iOS, Android, web, and ChatGPT Atlas on MacOS. They'll be elevated beyond the WhatsApp versions too, with additional features like voice conversations, deep research, and file uploads.

If you want to maintain your conversation history, OpenAI recommends you link your WhatsApp account with ChatGPT. Once done, your phone number will be associated with your ChatGPT account and your past WhatsApp conversations will apparently in your ChatGPT history.

OpenAI added: "You can link your ChatGPT account through 1-800-ChatGPT’s contact profile in WhatsApp and click the URL there."

You'll need to do it before 15 January, however. If you don't, WhatsApp conversations won’t transfer automatically after this date.

Britta O'Boyle
Britta O'Boyle

Britta is a freelance technology journalist who has been writing about tech for over a decade. She's covered all consumer tech from phones, tablets and wearables to smart home and beauty tech, with everything in between. She has a fashion journalism degree from London College of Fashion and previously did a long stint as deputy editor of Pocket-lint, but you’ll now find her byline on several titles including GQ, the Express, the Mirror, TechRadar, Stuff and iMore. You'll never find her without her Apple Watch on, aiming to complete her rings so she can justify the extra bar of chocolate and she loves a good iPhone trick.

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