"The European Union has launched a formal investigation into Meta over antitrust concerns with AI restrictions in WhatsApp. The probe aims to "prevent any possible irreparable harm to competition in the AI space" according to the EU, and follows Meta announcing changes to WhatsApp's terms for businesses in October that will prohibit companies from using the platform's API to distribute third-party AI chatbots."
""As a result of the new policy, competing AI providers may be blocked from reaching their customers through WhatsApp," says the European Commission's announcement. "On the other hand, Meta's own AI service 'Meta AI' would remain accessible to users on the platform." The updated WhatsApp policy went into effect on October 15 for AI providers that don't already have services on the platform, and will apply to existing AI providers on WhatsApp starting January 15th, 2026."
"The investigation will assess whether Meta violated the EU laws that "prohibit the abuse of a dominant position" to make it harder for smaller providers to compete with its own services. There is no deadline for the investigation. If Meta is ruled to have breached the bloc's antitrust rules, it may face fines up to 10 percent of the company's global annual revenue, working out at $16.45 billion (per Meta's 2024 earnings)."
EU launched a formal investigation into Meta for antitrust concerns over WhatsApp restrictions that could block third-party AI chatbots while leaving Meta's own AI accessible. The probe aims to prevent possible irreparable harm to competition in the AI space and follows Meta's October policy change banning use of WhatsApp's API by companies to distribute third-party AI chatbots. The policy took effect October 15 for new providers and will apply to existing providers from January 15, 2026; OpenAI and Microsoft removed ChatGPT and Copilot. The investigation will assess abuse of a dominant position, has no deadline, and could lead to fines up to 10 percent of global revenue (~$16.45 billion).
Read at The Verge
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