The European Union has taken action against Meta Platforms over a policy that restricts the use of competing artificial intelligence tools on WhatsApp, raising concerns about potential abuse of market dominance.
EU regulators said the policy, introduced on January 15, allows only Meta’s in-house AI assistant to function on WhatsApp, effectively shutting out third-party AI services from the messaging platform.
In response, the European Commission issued a formal statement of objections to the U.S. technology company and signalled it may impose interim measures to prevent what it described as the risk of “serious and irreparable harm” to competition while its investigation is ongoing.
EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said regulators must ensure fair competition in the rapidly growing AI sector. She warned that dominant digital platforms should not be allowed to exploit their market position to gain unfair advantages.
“We are considering swift interim action to safeguard access for competitors to WhatsApp during the investigation and to prevent Meta’s policy from causing lasting damage to competition in Europe,” Ribera said.
Meta, however, rejected the allegations, insisting that its WhatsApp Business API is not an essential route for AI services to reach users. A company spokesperson said consumers can already access a wide range of AI tools through app stores, operating systems, websites, devices and partnerships.
“The Commission’s argument wrongly assumes that WhatsApp’s Business API is a critical distribution channel for AI chatbots,” the spokesperson added.
Regulatory scrutiny of Meta’s AI strategy is growing globally. Italy’s competition authority imposed similar restrictions on the company in December, while a court in Brazil recently lifted an interim measure targeting Meta over the same issue.
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