Meta’s AI rivals must have WhatsApp access
The European Commission has ordered Meta to restore free access to WhatsApp for rival general-purpose AI assistants.
It has also told the social-media company to maintain such access until the end of the EU body’s competition investigation into the issue.
In December 2025, the commission opened a probe into a new Meta policy to block access for AI providers, other than Meta AI, to WhatsApp.
The EU body said yesterday (9 June) that it had concluded that the interim measures were needed to prevent “serious and irreparable damage” to competition in the growing market for general-purpose AI assistants.
Dominant position
The change in Meta policy, announced in October 2025, prohibited AI providers from using a tool allowing businesses to communicate with customers through WhatsApp – the ‘WhatsApp Business Solution' – when AI is the main service offered.
The commission has provisionally found that Meta has held a dominant position in the EEA-wide market for consumer communication applications since at least January 2023.
It has also provisionally concluded that the new policy constituted a refusal to provide access to an infrastructure developed for and previously open to third parties.
‘Rapidly evolving’ markets
After a revision of the policy, on 4 March, Meta accepted third-party general-purpose AI assistants again on WhatsApp, but charged a fee that the EU body believes is, in practice, equivalent to the previous access ban.
“In rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted,” said competition commissioner Teresa Ribera.
“This is why these interim measures will remain in place for the duration of the investigation, in order to prevent harm that would be almost impossible to repair,” she added.