EU Initiates Antitrust Investigation into Meta’s WhatsApp AI Policies
The European Commission has initiated a formal antitrust investigation into the new WhatsApp policy implemented by Meta. This policy restricts third-party AI chatbots while permitting its own Meta AI assistant on the platform. The focus of the investigation is to determine if Meta is exploiting its dominant position in messaging to suppress AI competition across Europe.
Effective from January 2026, Meta’s revised Business API policy bars general-purpose AI chatbots from companies such as OpenAI, Perplexity, and Poke from functioning on WhatsApp. Although businesses can continue to utilize AI for customer service, standalone consumer chatbots are prohibited. This policy alteration has already instigated major competitors, including ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot, to declare their withdrawal from WhatsApp operations.
EU antitrust chief, Teresa Ribera, expressed that the investigation is aimed at preventing dominant firms from “abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors“. If found guilty of violating competition rules, Meta could be subjected to fines amounting to 10% of its global annual revenue.
Source: CNBC