EU warns Meta to stop excluding third-party AI bots on WhatsApp
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The news: The European Union has warned Meta over its policies blocking the use of rival AI assistants on WhatsApp, telling the platform it will impose measures to stop it from excluding third-party AI assistants from the app.
The context: The European Commission informed Meta on Monday its preliminary view is that Meta breached EU antitrust rules by excluding rival assistants from accessing and interacting with users on WhatsApp.
As Meta's conduct “risks blocking competitors from entering or expanding in the rapidly growing market for AI assistants”, the Commission said, it intends to impose interim measures to prevent this policy change from causing serious and irreparable harm on the market, subject to Meta's reply and rights of defence.
The Commission said Meta’s update of its WhatsApp Business Solution Terms in October last year, effectively banned rival general-purpose AI assistants from the applications, meaning that since mid-January 2026, the only AI assistant available on WhatsApp is Meta's own tool, Meta AI.
A Commission spokesperson told CNBC that interim measures could involve it asking Meta to maintain third-party AI assistants’ access to WhatsApp under the terms before the policy change, while the Commission continues its investigation.
EU competition regulators can order companies to stop suspicious business practices temporarily, but these challenges can be challenged in the bloc’s courts. Should a company be found to have breached the EU antitrust rules, fines can amount to as much as 10% of global annual revenue.
What they said: Teresa Ribera, executive vice-president for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition said: “Artificial intelligence is bringing incredible innovations to consumers, and one of these is the emerging market of AI assistants. We must protect effective competition in this vibrant field, which means we cannot allow dominant tech companies to illegally leverage their dominance to give themselves an unfair advantage. AI markets are developing at rapid pace, so we also need to be swift in our action.”
The sources: European Commission, CNBC
