There is no DeepSeek WhatsApp number, and you cannot build one

There is no official DeepSeek WhatsApp number, and the more useful part of the answer is that you are not permitted to build one either. Meta's terms prohibit making a general-purpose AI assistant available through the WhatsApp Business Platform when the assistant is the primary thing on offer.

That rule is not hypothetical. ChatGPT ran on WhatsApp from December 2024 and stopped on 15 January 2026, and OpenAI pointed users to its own apps instead. If the largest assistant in the world could not stay, a smaller one wrapping another model will not either.

What we'll cover

• What the terms actually say
• The ChatGPT precedent
• Where the line sits
• Why people search for this
• Building it with CodeWords
• What you can build instead
• Unofficial numbers, and why not to message them
• If a general assistant is the goal
• Choosing a model, which matters less than you think
• Making it survive
• Limits worth knowing about
• What to do instead
• Frequently asked questions

What the terms actually say

The WhatsApp Business Solution Terms are explicit. Providers and developers of artificial intelligence or machine learning technologies, general-purpose AI assistants included, are prohibited from using the Business Solution to provide, deliver, offer, sell or otherwise make those technologies available where they are the primary functionality being offered (WhatsApp Business Solution Terms).

Three words carry the weight: primary functionality being offered.

A number whose purpose is "message this to talk to an AI" is offering the AI. That is the prohibited case, and it does not matter which model is behind it, whether it is free, or whether you built it for yourself.

A business using AI inside its own customer service is offering the business. The AI is a component, the way a database is a component, and that is a different thing entirely.

The ChatGPT precedent

Worth knowing because it settles any argument about whether the rule is enforced.

OpenAI ran ChatGPT on WhatsApp on a business number from December 2024. On 15 January 2026 it stopped, and OpenAI published a transition note directing people to its own apps and offering a way to link a WhatsApp number so chat history carried over (OpenAI).

The reason was the platform rule rather than any technical problem. A well-resourced company operating an official, compliant integration was still outside what the terms permit, because the assistant was the product.

Anyone planning to put a general assistant on a WhatsApp number is planning to do the thing that was just switched off at a much larger scale.

Where the line sits

The distinction is about what the number is for, and in practice it is clearer than it sounds.

Prohibited, or near enough that it is not worth the number. A number that answers any question. A wrapper giving people access to a model. A personal assistant you are offering to others. Anything where you would describe the product as "AI on WhatsApp".

Permitted, and ordinary. A bakery whose number takes orders and uses a model to interpret what people write. A clinic answering questions about its own services. A garage giving job updates. The business is the product and the model is plumbing.

The test to apply: if you removed the AI and replaced it with a menu, would the number still have a purpose? A bakery's would. A general assistant's would not, because the AI was the entire point.

Meta also operates its own AI inside WhatsApp, which is a reminder that the platform is not against AI in the channel. It is against other people offering assistants through it.

Why people search for this

The underlying want is reasonable, and it is worth separating from the thing that cannot be done.

Access where they already are. WhatsApp is installed and open, particularly in markets where it is the default channel.

Cost. DeepSeek's models are priced lower than several alternatives, and people looking for cheap capable access are searching for a route to them.

Business use. Small businesses wanting AI in their customer conversations without rebuilding anything.

Only the third survives contact with the terms, and it is also the one where the value is largest. The first two are better served by the model provider's own app, which is free, official, and not at risk of disappearing.

Building it with CodeWords

CodeWords connects to more than 3,000 integrations, and the connection is made once and reused.

1. Open CodeWords and start a new automation.
2. Describe what should happen in plain language to Cody, the automation builder, framed around what your business does rather than around the model.
3. Authorize the connections to your own systems and your WhatsApp Business Platform account.
4. Describe the exceptions, including what should never be answered automatically.
5. Ground the answers in your own information rather than leaving the model to answer from general knowledge, which is both the compliant design and the one that works.

You describe the outcome; Cody builds it, connects it, and deploys it. The free plan covers light use, with Pro at $39 per month and Business at $100 per month as usage grows; details are on the pricing page.

What you can build instead

Almost everything people actually want, once the goal is stated as a business outcome.

Answering questions about your own business, grounded in your own information.

Taking structured information, such as an order, a booking or an enquiry.

Status and updates driven by what is happening in your systems.

Triage, routing a message to the right person with the context attached.

Translation inside a business conversation, where a customer writes in another language.

Each uses a model, none makes the model the product, and all of them are more useful to a business than a general assistant would have been.

Unofficial numbers, and why not to message them

Numbers circulate claiming to be an official assistant. Some are enthusiasts, some are harvesting.

Everything you send goes through whoever runs that number. That includes anything personal you typed, and the operator is not accountable to you or to the model provider whose name they are using. Since the model provider does not operate a WhatsApp presence, any number claiming to be theirs is misrepresenting itself, which tells you something before you send anything.

The same applies from the other side: operating one puts you in breach, and the number is the part you lose.

If a general assistant is the goal

Say plainly what the options are, because people arrive here wanting one.

The provider's own app or web interface, which is the official route and usually free.

Another messaging platform. Telegram's bot platform does not carry the same restriction, which makes it the reasonable choice for a personal or hobby assistant.

Your own interface, if you are building something for others.

What is not an option is the WhatsApp Business Platform, and building it anyway means building on a number that can be removed without notice.

Choosing a model, which matters less than you think

For the compliant business case, the model choice is a smaller decision than it appears.

What decides whether a business bot is any good is what information it has been given, how tightly it is grounded in that information, what it does when it does not know, and how it hands over. Those are design decisions, and they dominate the differences between competent models.

Where the model does matter: cost at volume, latency, the languages your customers use, and where the data goes, which is worth checking for any provider before connecting it to customer conversations.

Build so the model can be changed. Anything that treats one provider as permanent will be awkward within a year, because this part of the stack moves faster than the rest of it.

Making it survive

Frame the number around the business, not the model.

Ground answers in your own information rather than general knowledge.

Re-read the platform terms periodically, since they have changed materially twice recently.

Keep the model swappable, behind your own interface.

Check where data goes before connecting any provider to customer conversations.

Limits worth knowing about

The rule is enforced, as the ChatGPT withdrawal demonstrates.

Model quality is not the bottleneck for most business bots; grounding and handover are.

The number is the asset you risk, and it carries your customer relationships.

Free access to a model is not a business case, and the provider's own app does it better.

Platform terms change, so a design that depends on a current reading needs revisiting.

What to do instead

Write down what your number is for, as a business outcome, in one sentence that does not contain the word AI. "Takes cake orders and confirms them." "Answers questions about our services and books appointments." If you cannot write that sentence, the number is offering an assistant, and that is the thing the terms prohibit.

Two habits make the difference. Ground every answer in your own information rather than the model's general knowledge, since that is simultaneously the compliant design, the accurate one, and the cheaper one. And keep the model behind your own interface so it can be swapped, because this is the layer that changes fastest.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an official DeepSeek WhatsApp number?

No. DeepSeek offers a web interface, its own app and an API. None includes WhatsApp, and any number claiming otherwise is a third party misrepresenting itself.

Can I build my own general-purpose AI assistant on WhatsApp?

No. The WhatsApp Business Solution Terms prohibit making AI technologies available through the Business Solution where they are the primary functionality being offered.

Did ChatGPT not run on WhatsApp?

It did, from December 2024 until 15 January 2026, when OpenAI withdrew it and directed users to its own apps. The platform rule, not a technical problem, is why it ended.

What is the difference between that and a business using AI?

What the number is for. A number offering access to an assistant is offering the AI. A bakery taking orders that happens to use a model is offering the bakery. Ask whether the number would still have a purpose with a menu in place of the AI.

What can I build on WhatsApp with AI?

Answering questions about your own business, taking orders and bookings, sending status updates, triaging messages to the right person, and handling customers writing in other languages.

Are unofficial assistant numbers safe to message?

Everything you send passes through whoever runs it, and they are accountable to nobody. Since the model providers do not operate WhatsApp numbers, any number claiming to be theirs is already misrepresenting itself.

Where should a general assistant live instead?

The provider's own app or web interface, or a platform without the restriction. Telegram's bot platform is the usual choice for a personal or hobby assistant.

Does the model I choose matter?

Less than expected. Grounding, behaviour when the model does not know, and handover dominate the differences between competent models. Cost at volume, latency, language coverage and data location are where the choice does matter.

Should I commit to one model provider?

Keep the model behind your own interface so it can be changed. This layer moves faster than the rest of the stack, and anything treating one provider as permanent ages badly.

What happens if I build the prohibited thing anyway?

You build it on a number that can be removed, and the number carries your customer relationships. That is a poor trade at any scale.

Related reading

• The Business Platform versus unofficial APIs
• Why your bot keeps getting banned
• Telegram, and when it is the better channel