Brussels eyes crowbar for Meta's WhatsApp AI lockout
Brussels is investigating Meta for potentially violating EU competition rules by restricting rival AI chatbots from accessing WhatsApp. This action, initiated by a Statement of Objections from the European Commission, signals a preliminary view that Meta has abused its dominant market position in consumer messaging. The investigation focuses on whether Meta leveraged its massive user base on WhatsApp to disadvantage competitors in the emerging AI assistant market. The core of the dispute lies in WhatsApp's updated business policy, announced in October 2025, which effectively banned general-purpose third-party AI assistants. This led to the departure of popular services like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Microsoft's Copilot from the platform, leaving Meta AI as the sole integrated assistant. Regulators believe this move could stifle competition by raising entry barriers and strengthening Meta's control over AI distribution, potentially causing "serious and irreparable harm" to the AI assistant market. This regulatory scrutiny represents an early test of how existing competition law applies to the rapidly evolving AI ecosystem. The Commission is considering interim measures to compel Meta to restore competitor access while the investigation proceeds, a rare step indicating a belief that market distortion could become permanent if action is delayed. If Meta is found to have breached the rules, it could face substantial fines and be mandated to alter its integration policies for third-party AI services.
Curated and translated by Europe Digital for our multilingual European audience.
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