EU Forces Meta to Open WhatsApp to Rival AI Assistants Amid Antitrust Probe
The interim measure will remain in effect until the EU concludes its probe into the US tech company. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, could face penalties of up to 10% of its global annual revenue if found to have abused its market dominance.
The investigation was initiated in December 2025 after several artificial intelligence developers from the United States, France, and Spain complained that Meta restricted access to WhatsApp’s Business application programming interface (API). According to the complaints, the company had effectively limited integration opportunities for rival AI services while maintaining full connectivity for its own Meta AI system.
WhatsApp, which has more than 3.3 billion users globally, is deeply integrated across Meta’s platforms and is widely used for both personal communication and business services.
Earlier this year, Meta reportedly allowed external AI chatbots to access WhatsApp under a paid model. However, European regulators argued that the pricing structure was too high to allow meaningful competition.
Under the Commission’s directive, Meta has been given a short deadline—five working days—to restore free access to the WhatsApp Business API, reverting it to conditions that existed prior to changes introduced in late 2025.
EU competition chief Teresa Ribera stated that the intervention is intended to “preserve choice for citizens across Europe on the AI assistants they want to use with WhatsApp, without that decision being made for them.”
She added that the measure also aims to “safeguard competition in the growing market for AI assistants, by preserving a key entry point to reach consumers in Europe – WhatsApp – and allowing AI companies to innovate, scale up and reach their full potential.”
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