The European Commission has said it intends to order Meta Platforms to reinstate rival artificial intelligence assistants on its WhatsApp service after the company imposed an access fee. The Commission has stated that the revised policy appears to exclude third-party AI assistants and may breach EU competition rules.
As per media reports, the Commission has notified Meta that the policy change seems to have the effect of excluding third-party AI assistants from WhatsApp and therefore appears, at first sight, to be in violation of antitrust regulations.
The Commission has said interim measures, typically imposed when there are concerns about damage to competition, will remain in place until the investigation concludes. It has added that to prevent serious and irreparable harm to competition, it intends to order Meta to reinstate access for third-party AI assistants under the same conditions as before October 15, 2025.
Meta had previously informed the Commission in March that it would allow rival AI assistants on WhatsApp for one year, subject to a fee, after initially planning to ban third-party AI chatbots from WhatsApp Business.
In response, a Meta spokesperson reportedly said, “The European Commission is proposing to use its regulatory powers to enable some of the largest companies in the world to use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free.” The spokesperson added, “This means that a small bakery in France paying to use the service to take croissant orders will be picking up the tab for OpenAI. Small European businesses shouldn’t foot OpenAI’s bill.”
The Commission has also said that its investigation has been expanded to Italy, where the national competition watchdog had opened a separate probe last year.
