"Brussels has accused Meta of breaking EU competition rules by locking rival AI chatbots out of WhatsApp, opening the door to emergency action that could force the tech giant to let competitors back onto the platform. The European Commission has sent Meta a Statement of Objections, setting out its preliminary view that the company abused its market position by blocking third-party AI assistants - including OpenAI's ChatGPT and Microsoft's Copilot - from accessing and interacting with users on WhatsApp."
"At the heart of the dispute are changes Meta announced in October 2025 to the WhatsApp Business policy. According to the Commission, those updates effectively banned general-purpose third-party AI assistants from operating on the platform. OpenAI quickly announced it would no longer be available on WhatsApp, where it had more than 50 million users. "We would have much preferred to continue serving you on WhatsApp," the company said, before blaming the policy changes for the move."
"The restrictions, which fully came into force on January 15, 2026, left Meta's own chatbot, Meta AI, as the only assistant allowed to plug directly into WhatsApp. Competition regulators said on Monday they preliminarily believe Meta holds a dominant position in consumer messaging across the European Economic Area, largely due to WhatsApp's enormous user base. In Brussels' view, the app is becoming a crucial gateway for AI assistants trying to reach consumers, meaning blocking rivals could choke off competition before it properly gets going."
The European Commission has issued a Statement of Objections alleging Meta abused its dominant position by blocking third-party AI assistants from WhatsApp. Changes to the WhatsApp Business policy in October 2025 are said to have effectively banned general-purpose third-party AI assistants, prompting OpenAI and Microsoft to withdraw their services. The restrictions took full effect on January 15, 2026, leaving Meta AI as the only allowed assistant. Regulators preliminarily view WhatsApp as a crucial gateway for AI assistants in the European Economic Area and say blocking rivals could stifle competition.
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