EU Launches Antitrust Investigation into Meta's AI Integration with WhatsApp: Competition Concerns for Third-Party Providers

Belgium:

The European Union announced on Thursday that it has initiated an antitrust investigation to assess whether Meta's implementation of AI features in WhatsApp violates the bloc's competition regulations.

This action against the American tech giant represents the EU's latest effort to regulate Big Tech, despite significant resistance from US President Donald Trump's administration.

The investigation falls under the EU's antitrust framework rather than its recently strengthened digital laws, which Trump has criticized as unfairly targeting American companies and threatened retaliatory measures.

According to the European Commission, there are concerns that Meta's newly announced policy "may prevent third party AI providers from offering their services through WhatsApp".

WhatsApp has dismissed these allegations as "baseless".

EU competition commissioner Teresa Ribera stated that the bloc must "act to prevent dominant digital incumbents from abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors".

"This is why we are investigating if Meta's new policy might be illegal under competition rules, and whether we should act quickly to prevent any possible irreparable harm to competition in the AI space," Ribera explained in a statement.

The EU claims that Meta's policy, announced in October, will prohibit competing AI providers from utilizing a tool in WhatsApp's business version to directly engage with customers.

This restriction applies "when AI is the primary service offered" - such as with AI chatbots or assistants - though companies may continue using AI tools for support functions like customer service.

"As a result of the new policy, competing AI providers may be blocked from reaching their customers through WhatsApp," the commission stated.

"On the other hand, Meta's own AI service 'Meta AI' would remain accessible to users on the platform."

WhatsApp contested the argument that it could hinder competition.

"The claims are baseless," a spokesperson responded. "The emergence of AI chatbots on our Business API puts a strain on our systems that they were not designed to support."

"Even still, the AI space is highly competitive and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems."

The EU investigation covers the European Economic Area, comprising the bloc's 27 member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway - excluding Italy, which launched its own separate investigation into Meta in July.

Italy's antitrust authority has indicated that by integrating Meta AI with WhatsApp, the US corporation may be forcing its AI services on users and directing its customer base into this emerging market.

There is no legal deadline for concluding an antitrust investigation.

Meta already faces potential hefty penalties under the bloc's Digital Services Act (DSA), which governs content regulation.

One DSA case alleges that Meta failed to provide researchers with sufficient access to public data, while another focuses on claims that Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram do not offer user-friendly methods to flag illegal content or challenge content-moderation decisions.

EU regulators are also investigating Facebook and Instagram over concerns they are not taking adequate measures to combat the addictive nature of their platforms for children.

Additionally, Meta has appealed against a 200-million-euro fine imposed this year under the bloc's Digital Markets Act competition law regarding its policy that asks users to choose between an ad-free subscription and a free, ad-supported service.