"Teresa Ribera, the EU's antitrust chief, said Thursday she's weighing so-called interim measures to ensure that this could not blow up. She made the comments to reporters in Brussels after signing off on an investigation into suspicions that WhatsApp AI tools may unfairly prevent rival AI providers from offering their business services through WhatsApp. Under EU rules, competition regulators can order companies to temporarily stop suspect business practices, but these demands can be challenged in the bloc's courts in Luxembourg."
"The claims are baseless, a WhatsApp spokesperson said. The emergence of AI chatbots on our Business API puts a strain on our systems that they were not designed to support. Even still, the AI space is highly competitive and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems."
"Eventual fines for breaching the EU antitrust rulebook can be as high as 10% of global annual revenue, although they rarely reach that level, especially if alleged wrongdoing is short-lived. Meta will now be forced to submit solutions to appease regulators' concerns. The EU has in recent years ramped up pressure on Silicon Valley firms, seeking to curb potential market abuses as a handful of operators wield a huge amount of power across the digital sector."
The European Union is investigating whether WhatsApp's AI tools unfairly block rival AI providers from offering business services via WhatsApp and is considering interim measures that could pause Meta's rollout of new AI-related policies. Regulators can order temporary stops to suspect practices and such orders can be challenged in EU courts. Breaches of antitrust rules can lead to fines up to 10% of global revenue, though penalties rarely reach that level for short-lived conduct. Meta must propose remedies to address regulators' concerns. The Digital Markets Act adds rules to curb anti-competitive behavior. WhatsApp calls the claims baseless and cites system strain from AI chatbots.
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