EU orders Meta to restore free WhatsApp access for rival AI assistants in antitrust crackdown

WhatsApp ordered to host rival AI assistants for free

Meta has been ordered by the European Commission to restore free WhatsApp access for chatbots made by rival AI providers while the regulator finishes its antitrust investigation. The rare interim measure announced on Tuesday was deemed necessary "to prevent serious and irreparable damage to competition" in the general-purpose AI assistant market. This is only the second time that the EU has used the emergency power in more than 20 years, Politico reports. It follows the launch of a formal investigation in December 2025 into whether Meta was abusing its market dominance by banning third-party AI chatbots from its WhatsApp messaging platform. Meta later restored access to rival chatbots "for a fee" in March, seemingly in violation of EU competition rules. Now, the Commission is ordering Meta to reinstate WhatsApp access for third-party AI rivals under the same terms and conditions that were in place before the ban, which was "notably free of charge." "In rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted. 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," European competition commissioner Teresa Ribera said in a statement. "These interim measures will 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." Meta has until June 15th to comply. The broader antitrust investigation is still ongoing, with no date set for a legal conclusion. If Meta ignores the order, it could face fines of up to 10 percent of annual revenue, or around $20 billion, based on 2025 earnings. In a statement to Politico, a Meta spokesperson rejected the case as baseless and said the company plans to appeal the order: "The European Commission has decided that OpenAI and some of the largest companies in the world can use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free. This is regulatory overreach subsidised by the many European companies that pay."

EU regulators order Meta to allow rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp

BRUSSELS, June 9 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators on Tuesday ordered Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab to give rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp while they continue to investigate whether the company abused its market power by blocking competitors from the messaging app. The European Commission's decision to issue an interim measure against Meta - its first in 17 years - followed complaints from The Interaction Company of California, developer of the Poke.com AI assistant, French AI startup Agentik and a Spanish rival. Those complaints prompted the Commission, the EU's competition enforcer, to open an investigation in December last year. It issued ⁠charges against Meta two months later, alleging breaches of EU antitrust rules. "In rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted," EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement. "These interim measures will 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," she said. Meta criticised the Commission order. "The European Commission has decided that OpenAI and ⁠some of the largest companies in the world can use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free," a Meta spokesperson said in an email. "This is regulatory overreach subsidised by the many European companies that pay. We will appeal." Meta barred rival AI services from accessing its WhatsApp for Business application programming ⁠interface, which allows companies to connect their systems to WhatsApp, in October last year, while exempting its own assistant Meta AI. In March it allowed the competitors back onto the platform ⁠for a fee, a move that drew the Commission's objection. Under the interim measure, Meta must restore rivals' access to the WhatsApp for Business API on the same terms ⁠and conditions that applied before October, within five working days. Meta faces a fine of up to 10% of its global annual turnover if found to have breached EU antitrust rules. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Mark Potter/Sudip Kar-Gupta Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Artificial Intelligence * Antitrust * Regulatory Oversight Foo Yun Chee Thomson Reuters An agenda-setting and market-moving journalist, Foo Yun Chee is a 21-year veteran at Reuters. Her stories on high profile mergers have pushed up the European telecoms index, lifted companies' shares and helped investors decide on their next move. Her knowledge and experience of European antitrust laws and developments helped her break stories on Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta and Apple, numerous market-moving mergers and antitrust investigations. She has previously reported on Greek politics and companies, when Greece's entry into the eurozone meant it punched above its weight on the international stage, as well as on Dutch corporate giants and the quirks of Dutch society and culture that never fail to charm readers.

EU orders Meta to restore WhatsApp access for rival AI chatbots

LONDON (AP) -- European Union regulators on Tuesday ordered Meta Platforms to restore access to WhatsApp for rival AI chatbot makers until its antitrust investigation is complete. The bloc's executive Commission, which is the 27-nation EU's top antitrust and competition enforcer, said it was taking action to prevent harm to competition in the growing market for AI assistants before it's too late. The commission said it was imposing "interim measures" while it continues its investigation into WhatsApp's artificial intelligence policy over concerns the company is breaching EU law by blocking competitors from offering their AI assistants on the platform. Meta said it would appeal. "The European Commission has decided that OpenAI and some of the largest companies in the world can use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free," the company said in a statement. "This is regulatory overreach subsidized by the many European companies that pay." Brussels has been resorting to temporary orders after facing criticism over previous years-long antitrust investigations into Big Tech companies that failed to rein in their market power. "In rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted," the commission's executive vice-president overseeing competition, Teresa Ribera, said in a statement. EU regulators last year began scrutinizing updated terms and conditions for Meta's business customers using AI assistants to communicate with customers over WhatsApp. They were concerned that the agreement prevented third-party AI companies from offering their assistants on the platform, leaving only Meta's chatbot service available to users. Meta attempted to resolve the probe by charging rivals for access, but that didn't satisfy regulators, who threatened in April to force the company to reinstate access for free.

EU orders Meta to open WhatsApp to rival AI chatbots

The EU has told Meta that it must allow AI chatbots operated by rival firms to use WhatsApp for free. The European Commission said the firm would need to maintain that access while it concluded an antitrust investigation into the tech giant's decision to bar access for AI providers, other than Meta AI, on the messaging platform. It said the intervention was needed to prevent "serious and irreparable harm to competition in this growing market by Meta's conduct", which it said appeared to infringe EU competition rules. Meta has reacted angrily, accusing the Commission of "regulatory overreach." It says it will appeal. The EU said it began its investigation, in December 2025, after Meta banned third-party general-purpose AI assistants from the WhatsApp for Business API. It said that appeared to be an abuse of Meta's dominant position in European markets. So, as an interim measure as its investigation continues, it has given Meta five working days to re-instate access for third-party general-purpose AI assistants to the WhatsApp for Business API under the same terms and conditions that were in place previously. "In rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted", said Teresa Ribera, the Commission's executive vice-president for clean, just and competitive transition. "This is why these interim measures will remain in place for the duration of the investigation." She added the decision "preserved choice for citizens across Europe on the AI assistants they want to use with WhatsApp, without that decision being made for them." But Meta said the decision opened the door for hugely valuable AI companies to gain access to WhatsApp without paying. "The European Commission has decided that OpenAI and some of the largest companies in the world can use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free", it said in a statement. "This is regulatory overreach subsidised by the many European companies that pay. We will appeal." The row is the just the latest example of the strained relations between European regulators and US big tech firms. Last year, Meta warned of a "worse experience" for European users because of EU regulations. That followed a fine imposed on Meta the previous week - just one of many fines handed out by the EU which insists it is acting in the interests of consumers in the face of tech firms seeking to take advantage of their market dominance. The row has also turned political, with the Trump administration claiming the EU - and other jurisdictions - are unfairly targeting American tech firms. Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.

EU orders Meta to restore WhatsApp AI rival access in 5 days

The EU ordered Meta to restore WhatsApp access for rival AI assistants within five days, citing "serious and irreparable damage to competition." Meta will appeal. The investigation has no deadline and fines could reach 10% of global revenue. The European Commission has ordered Meta to "restore free access to WhatsApp for rival general purpose AI assistants" within five working days. The interim measures, announced on Tuesday, are designed to prevent what the Commission called "serious and irreparable damage to competition" in the AI assistant market. Meta said it would appeal. The company described the order as a decision that "OpenAI and some of the largest companies in the world can use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free." What happened Meta introduced changes to WhatsApp Business that critics said unfairly prevented rival AI providers from offering their services through the platform. The specifics of the restrictions have not been fully detailed in public filings, but the Commission found them serious enough to warrant interim measures before completing its investigation. Italy's antitrust authority was the first to examine the issue. The Commission subsequently expanded its probe to cover the Italian market as well, taking jurisdiction over the case. The penalty risk If Meta fails to comply, it faces fines of up to 10% of global annual revenue plus daily penalties. EU fines seldom reach that ceiling, but the threat is not trivial: Meta's 2025 revenue was approximately $187 billion. The measures will remain in place for the duration of the investigation, which has no set deadline. "In rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted," EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said. Meta's EU track record This is not Meta's first collision with Brussels. In April 2025, the company was fined €200 million for allegedly breaching the Digital Markets Act. In November 2024, it was ordered to pay €798 million for tying Facebook Marketplace to its social network. The cumulative regulatory burden on Meta in the EU now includes DMA enforcement, competition fines, privacy challenges under GDPR, and this new AI-specific intervention. US President Trump has threatened tariffs and export restrictions in retaliation for European regulation that he says unfairly targets American tech companies. Why this matters for AI WhatsApp has more than two billion users globally. For AI companies building business-facing assistants, access to WhatsApp Business is a distribution channel that no other messaging platform can replicate at the same scale. Meta's argument is that it should not be forced to give competitors free access to a paid product. The Commission's argument is that blocking rivals from an essential platform harms competition in a market that is still forming. The interim order means the Commission does not have to wait years for a final ruling to prevent what it considers irreversible damage. What is not yet clear The Commission has not published the full details of Meta's restrictive policies or named all the AI providers affected beyond OpenAI. The investigation has no deadline, and interim measures of this kind are rare in EU competition law, signalling the Commission considers the risk to the market urgent. Meta's appeal will test whether interim measures can survive judicial review when the underlying investigation is still open. If the order holds, it establishes a precedent that dominant platforms cannot exclude AI rivals from their business services during an investigation, even before a formal finding of wrongdoing.

EU Orders Meta to Open WhatsApp to Rival AI Chatbots -- Meta Calls It 'Regulatory Overreach'

The case centers on Meta's decision to reserve WhatsApp AI integrations for Meta AI, with potential fines reaching 10% of global revenue for non-compliance. The European Commission ordered Meta on Monday to give rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp's business messaging tools, escalating an antitrust fight that began when Meta blocked competitors from its platform last October, Reuters reports. Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera said the interim measures would remain in place for the duration of the investigation, which started in December 2025. "In rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted," she said in a statement. The order requires Meta to reinstate access for third-party general-purpose AI assistants to the WhatsApp Business API under the same terms that existed before the ban. Meta called the decision "regulatory overreach" and said it would appeal. "The European Commission has decided that OpenAI and some of the largest companies in the world can use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free," the company said in a statement to Reuters. "This is regulatory overreach subsidised by the many European companies that pay. We will appeal." The Commission began its probe after Meta changed its policy to allow only Meta AI on WhatsApp while blocking competing chatbots from the Business API. The policy shift took effect January 15, though existing AI providers had already been cut off since October of 2025. The investigation centers on whether Meta abused its dominant position in European messaging markets by reserving WhatsApp's AI access for itself. Ribera emphasized the decision "preserved choice for citizens across Europe on the AI assistants they want to use with WhatsApp, without that decision being made for them." Non-compliance could trigger fines up to 10% of Meta's total global turnover. The row highlights a broader tension: AI companies want distribution on messaging platforms with billions of users, while platform owners want to monetize that access. A separate study from IMDEA Networks Institute in May found that ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and Perplexity all share user data with third-party trackers including Meta, Google, and TikTok -- even when users opt out. Grok was the worst offender: Guest conversations are public by default, and TikTok's tracker received webcam image metadata. Meta has five working days to comply with the Commission's order while it plans its appeal.

Business - EU orders Meta to reopen WhatsApp to rival AI assistants

One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. The EU has ordered Meta to grant rival AI chatbots free access to its WhatsApp platform within five working days, while it completes its antitrust investigation into the company. Meta says it will appeal, accusing the EU of 'regulatory overreach'. Meanwhile, Brussels hit back at Apple after the iPhone maker blamed the EU's Digital Marketing Act for its decision to delay the rollout of its new Siri AI in Europe.

EU orders Meta to open WhatsApp to rival AI chatbots

The EU said this would 'prevent serious and irreparable harm to competition' in the growing market. The EU has ordered Meta to open up WhatsApp to rival AI assistants and maintain access until the Commission completes its antitrust investigation into the social media juggernaut. The order comes after Meta said last month that it would give competing general-purpose AI agents free access to WhatsApp business API for a month. A spokesperson at the time told the media that the move would "provide the ⁠Commission and Meta with time to achieve a quick and fair outcome to the investigation". The EU, however, wants this arrangement to be extended, arguing that this would "prevent serious and irreparable harm to competition in this growing market by Meta's conduct". The measures will stay in place until the end of the investigation, or until June 2029. The company has until Monday next week (15 June) to comply with the changes. The bloc launched its investigation into Meta in December last year after the company, in October, blocked competing third-party AI providers from reaching their customers through WhatsApp. In February, EU authorities told Meta that it had been breaching the bloc's antitrust laws. A month later, Meta slightly reversed course and reinstated access to WhatsApp for third-party AI assistants - but for a fee, which the Commission rebutted was "equivalent to the previous access ban". The Commission's move yesterday (9 June) orders Meta to open up access under the same terms and conditions that were in place prior to the October access ban. "In rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted," said Teresa Ribera, the executive vice-president for clean, just and competitive transition. "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." "These interim measures will 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," Ribera added. In its statement yesterday, the EU said that Meta - with WhatsApp - has held a dominant position in consumer communication applications in the bloc since at least 2023, a position it has been abusing by preventing its own Meta AI from competing with third-party AI agents. The Commission said that "at first sight", this constituted a "refusal to provide access to an infrastructure developed for and previously open to third parties." "There is an urgent need to prevent a risk of serious damage to the competitive structure in the growing market for general-purpose AI assistants." In the sidelines, the EU has been ramping up efforts to drum up business for home-grown AI technology in the bloc. Last month, European Parliament lawmakers and member states agreed on a simplified version of the EU AI Act to drive up AI adoption, allow business time to comply with the new law and be able to compete with foreign businesses. "Meta's policy change risks harming competition at a key moment in time for the development of that market, where smaller player and new entrants can challenge large incumbents," the Commission added. These are not the EU's final findings on the matter. The interim measures are part of an ongoing investigation into Meta. The social media giant is on the hook for up to 10pc of its annual global turnover if the EU ultimately finds that it broke antitrust laws under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the EEA Agreement. Meta has faced an onslaught of legal issues in the past few months, including two investigations from Ireland's Coimisiún na Meán over the company's recommender systems and compliance with the Digital Services Act (DSA). In April, the EU - in a separate investigation - preliminarily found that Instagram and Facebook breached the DSA for failing to "diligently" identify and mitigate risks that children under 13 face when using these platforms. In March, a landmark US legal case found that Meta's platforms were designed to be addictive to children, while a different case that concluded a day prior found that Meta's platforms enable child sexual exploitation. Earlier this month, Meta disclosed that 20,225 Instagram accounts were hacked over a period of more than a month after bad actors discovered a bug in Meta AI. In a new report, the New York Times found that roughly 34,000 Instagram accounts were affected in the April hack. Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

EU orders Meta to open WhatsApp to rival AI chatbots for free

Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) - The EU ordered Meta on Tuesday to give rival AI chatbots access to its WhatsApp platform for free within five working days as it carries out an antitrust probe, or risk a heavy fine. The measure follows the launch in December of an EU investigation into the US firm's policy of blocking access for AI providers other than Meta AI. The European Commission, the EU's digital watchdog, said Meta will have to maintain access to competitors until Brussels wraps up its probe. "Today, we require Meta to restore access to WhatsApp for competing AI assistants while we investigate whether the restrictions may infringe EU competition rules," EU antitrust commissioner Teresa Ribera said in a statement. "This will prevent serious and irreparable harm to competition in this growing market by Meta's conduct, which at first sight infringes EU competition rules," the commission said in a statement. The EU had warned Meta it faced interim measures if it did not open WhatsApp to rival AI assistants in February. The company then introduced an access fee -- a remedy the EU rejected in April as unsatisfactory. Traditional antitrust probes can take years and European officials believe the decisions, often fines, come too late to see any positive change to address the harm already done. The EU's goal is that Meta reinstates third-party AI assistants' access to WhatsApp under the same conditions as before its October 2025 policy change when it "effectively" barred them. The commission said it has the power to impose a fine of up to 10 percent of the company's total turnover in the business year preceding the infringement if Meta "either intentionally or negligently" contravenes the decision on interim measures. Protecting a 'growing market' Brussels said the fee offered earlier this year "at first sight" was "in practice equivalent to the previous access ban". The commission described an "urgent need" to protect a "growing market for general-purpose AI assistants" and give space for smaller players and new entrants to challenge large incumbents. There is no legal deadline for the EU's investigation to end. The commission has had several run-ins with Meta as part of a broader clampdown on abusive Big Tech practices. In April, EU regulators found Meta was failing to keep under-13s off its Facebook and Instagram platforms in breach of the bloc's digital content rules. As part of that same probe, EU regulators are looking into how Meta protects users' physical and mental wellbeing, as well as the "addictive" design of Facebook and Instagram. Meta has also appealed a 200 million euro ($231 million) fine imposed last year by the EU under the online competition law, the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The DMA is not popular across the Atlantic, with neither the US administration under President Donald Trump nor the American giants themselves. Apple criticised the law on Monday when it blamed the DMA for its delayed rollout of the AI-enhanced voice assistant Siri, which the EU flatly rejected.

EU Orders Meta to Restore WhatsApp Access for Rival AI Chatbots

LONDON (AP) -- European Union regulators on Tuesday ordered Meta Platforms to restore access to WhatsApp for rival AI chatbot makers until an antitrust investigation is complete. The bloc's executive Commission, which is the 27-nation EU's top antitrust and competition enforcer, said it was taking action to prevent harm to competition in the growing market for AI assistants before it's too late. The commission said it was imposing "interim measures" while it continues its investigation into WhatsApp's artificial intelligence policy over concerns the company is breaching EU law by blocking competitors from offering their AI assistants on the platform. Meta said it would appeal. "The European Commission has decided that OpenAI and some of the largest companies in the world can use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free," the company said in a statement. "This is regulatory overreach subsidized by the many European companies that pay." Brussels has occasionally resorted to temporary orders after facing criticism that previous years-long antitrust investigations into Big Tech companies were too slow to rein in their market power. "AI markets are developing exceptionally fast, and AI assistants are expected to become an important way for consumers all across Europe to access and use AI," the commission's executive vice-president overseeing competition, Teresa Ribera, told reporters in Brussels. "Therefore, when the damage can happen quickly and there is a risk of companies being forced to leave the market, we need to use our tools." EU regulators last year began scrutinizing updated terms and conditions for Meta's business customers using AI assistants to communicate with customers over WhatsApp. They were concerned that the agreement prevented third-party AI companies from offering their assistants on the platform, leaving only Meta's chatbot service available to users. Meta attempted to resolve the probe by charging rivals for access, but that didn't satisfy regulators, who threatened in April to force the company to reinstate access for free. Riber said Meta's fee was so high it was "not economically sustainable for competitors," without providing more details. The commission's order would remain in place until June 2029 or until the end of the investigation, which has no deadline. If Meta doesn't comply with the order, it could face fines of up to 10% of annual revenue.

Meta Reportedly Directed to Offer Free WhatsApp Access to Rival AI Chatbots

Meta barred rival AI services from accessing its WhatsApp last year European Union antitrust regulators have directed Meta Platforms to provide competing AI chatbot services with free access to WhatsApp, according to a report. The authorities are investigating allegations that the Mark Zuckerberg-led company may have used its market position to restrict rivals' access to the messaging platform. The European Commission's interim order follows complaints filed by a few companies. Meta barred rival AI services from accessing its WhatsApp for Business in October; it later allowed the competitors to access the platform but levied a fee, and this move drew the Commission's objection. EU Orders Meta to Provide Free WhatsApp Access to Rival AI Chatbots As per a Reuters report, the EU has ordered Meta to allow AI chatbots owned by rival companies, including those from OpenAI, to use WhatsApp for free while regulators continue investigating Meta's business practices. The order marks the latest step from the European Commission, and it is taken based on complaints from The Interaction Company, which develops the Poke.com AI assistant, Agentik, and a Spanish rival. Their complaints led the European Commission to launch an investigation into Meta in December 2025. Regulators later issued charges against Meta two months later, alleging breaches of EU antitrust rules, and additional charges in April after Meta opened access to the WhatsApp for Business application programming interface but imposed fees. Meta barred rival AI services from accessing its WhatsApp for Business application programming interface in October 2025, while exempting its assistant, Meta AI. EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said Meta's fees were so high that it was not economically sustainable for competitors, and the company's justification failed to convince. "It seems that Meta expects to leverage the vast reach and likely dominance of WhatsApp to benefit its own AI assistant and to foreclose rivals," Teresa Ribera reportedly said. It is now a critical time. AI markets are developing exceptionally fast, and AI systems are expected to become an important way for consumers all across Europe to access ⁠and use AI," Ribera said. The interim order will reportedly last until the investigation concludes or until June 2029, whichever comes first. Meta criticised the Commission Order, and a Meta spokesperson in an email reportedly said that the European Commission is forcing it to provide a paid business service to competitors for free. The company said it plans to appeal the ruling.

EU orders Meta to open WhatsApp to rival AI chatbots for free

The EU ordered Meta on Tuesday to give rival AI chatbots access to its WhatsApp platform for free within five working days as it carries out an antitrust probe, or risk a heavy fine. The EU had warned Meta it faced interim measures if it did not open WhatsApp to rival AI assistants in February. The EU ordered Meta on Tuesday to give rival AI chatbots access to its WhatsApp platform for free within five working days as it carries out an antitrust probe, or risk a heavy fine. The measure follows the launch in December of an EU investigation into the US firm's policy of blocking access for AI providers other than Meta AI. The European Commission, the EU's digital watchdog, said Meta will have to maintain access to competitors until Brussels wraps up its probe. "Today, we require Meta to restore access to WhatsApp for competing AI assistants while we investigate whether the restrictions may infringe EU competition rules," EU antitrust commissioner Teresa Ribera said in a statement. "This will prevent serious and irreparable harm to competition in this growing market by Meta's conduct, which at first sight infringes EU competition rules," the commission said in a statement. The EU had warned Meta it faced interim measures if it did not open WhatsApp to rival AI assistants in February. The company then introduced an access fee -- a remedy the EU rejected in April as unsatisfactory. Traditional antitrust probes can take years and European officials believe the decisions, often fines, come too late to see any positive change to address the harm already done. The EU's goal is that Meta reinstates third-party AI assistants' access to WhatsApp under the same conditions as before its October 2025 policy change when it "effectively" barred them. The commission said it has the power to impose a fine of up to 10 percent of the company's total turnover in the business year preceding the infringement if Meta "either intentionally or negligently" contravenes the decision on interim measures. Protecting a 'growing market' Brussels said the fee offered earlier this year "at first sight" was "in practice equivalent to the previous access ban". The commission described an "urgent need" to protect a "growing market for general-purpose AI assistants" and give space for smaller players and new entrants to challenge large incumbents. There is no legal deadline for the EU's investigation to end. The commission has had several run-ins with Meta as part of a broader clampdown on abusive Big Tech practices. In April, EU regulators found Meta was failing to keep under-13s off its Facebook and Instagram platforms in breach of the bloc's digital content rules. As part of that same probe, EU regulators are looking into how Meta protects users' physical and mental wellbeing, as well as the "addictive" design of Facebook and Instagram. Meta has also appealed a 200 million euro ($231 million) fine imposed last year by the EU under the online competition law, the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The DMA is not popular across the Atlantic, with neither the US administration under President Donald Trump nor the American giants themselves. Apple criticised the law on Monday when it blamed the DMA for its delayed rollout of the AI-enhanced voice assistant Siri, which the EU flatly rejected.

European Commission Orders Meta Platforms to Reinstate WhatsApp Access for Rival AI Chatbots

Meta Platforms, Inc. specializes in online social networking services. Net sales break down by activity as follows: - operation of social networking, messaging, photo and video sharing platforms (98.9%): operation of the Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads and WhatsApp platforms (3.58 billion daily active users in 2025); - sale of virtual and augmented reality products, software and devices (1.1%): virtual reality headsets (Meta Quest), connected screens (Facebook Portal), wearable devices, etc. Net sales break down by source of income into advertising spaces (98.7%) and other (1.3%). Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: the United States and Canada (39.2%), Asia/Pacific (26.8%), Europe (23.2%) and other (10.8%).

Meta Gets EU Antitrust Order to Open WhatsApp to Rival AI Chatbots -- Update

The European Union told Meta Platforms to reverse a policy that effectively bans rival artificial intelligence chatbots from using a tool to communicate with users on WhatsApp as officials continue to probe the company's messaging service. The order marks the latest step from the European Commission--the EU's executive arm--in its competition probe into Meta's AI practices after the company updated its WhatsApp business terms last year. Officials started investigating the company in December over what they called concerns that the changes unfairly squeezed out competitors. The policy stopped generative AI companies from accessing the company's WhatsApp for Business Application Programming Interface--or API--while still letting Meta's own AI services use it. The API tool allows companies to use WhatsApp to do things like send order notifications. The commission can impose so-called interim measures--essentially an injunction--on companies while investigations are progressing to prevent what officials see as further harm to a particular market. A spokesperson for Meta said the company would appeal the decision, calling it regulatory overreach that boiled down to the commission allowing some of the world's largest companies to use the paid WhatsApp Business product for free. Meta first offered to let competing AI assistants use its WhatsApp business software for a fee in March this year in a bid to appease the commission, and then offered access free of charge for one month in May. The commission said that the fee offer is equivalent to the previous access ban. "In rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted. 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," Teresa Ribera, the EU's competition chief, said in a statement on Tuesday. She also said to reporters in Brussels that the fee Meta had proposed in its first offer was too high.

Meta ordered by EU to allow rival AI chatbots back on WhatsApp for free

BRUSSELS, June 9 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms has been ordered by EU antitrust regulators to give rival AI chatbots such as OpenAI free access to WhatsApp while they continue to investigate whether the company abused its market power by blocking competitors from the messaging app. The European Commission's decision to issue an interim measure against Meta followed complaints from The Interaction Company of California, developer of the Poke.com AI assistant, French AI startup Agentik and a Spanish rival. Those complaints prompted the Commission, the EU's competition enforcer, to open an investigation in December. It issued charges against Meta two months later, alleging breaches of EU antitrust rules, and additional charges in April after Meta levied access fees. EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said Meta's fees were so high that it was not economically sustainable for competitors and the company's justification failed to convince. "It seems that Meta expects to leverage the vast reach and likely dominance of WhatsApp to benefit its own AI assistant and to foreclose rivals," she told a press conference. "It is now a critical time. AI markets are developing exceptionally fast and AI systems are expected to become an important way for consumers all across Europe to access and use AI," Ribera said. She said the interim order would last as long as the investigation continues or at the latest until June 2029. Meta, which has previously pointed to AI options available via app stores, operating systems, devices, websites, and industry partnerships, criticised the Commission order. "The European Commission has decided that OpenAI and some of the largest companies in the world can use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free," a Meta spokesperson said in an email. "This is regulatory overreach subsidised by the many European companies that pay. We will appeal." Meta barred rival AI services from accessing its WhatsApp for Business application programming interface, which allows companies to connect their systems to WhatsApp, in October, while exempting its own assistant Meta AI. In March it allowed the competitors back onto the platform for a fee, a move that drew the Commission's objection. Under the interim measure, Meta must restore rivals' access to the WhatsApp for Business API on the same terms and conditions that applied before October, within five working days. Meta faces a fine of up to 10% of its global annual turnover if found to have breached EU antitrust rules. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Mark Potter, Sudip Kar-Gupta and Chris Reese)

Meta Gets EU Antitrust Order to Open WhatsApp to Rival AI Chatbots

The European Union told Meta Platforms to reverse a policy that effectively bans rival artificial intelligence chatbots from using a tool to communicate with users on WhatsApp as officials continue to probe the company's messaging service. The order marks the latest step from the European Commission--the EU's executive arm--in its competition probe into Meta's AI practices after the company updated its WhatsApp business terms last year. The commission can impose so-called interim measures--essentially an injunction--on companies while investigations are progressing to prevent what officials see as further harm to a particular market. Meta first offered to let competing AI assistants use its WhatsApp business software for a fee in March this year in a bid to appease the commission, and then offered access free of charge for one month in May. The commission said that the fee offer is equivalent to the previous access ban. "In rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted. 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," Teresa Ribera, the EU's competition chief, said on Tuesday.

EU regulators order Meta to allow rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp

BRUSSELS, June 9 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators on Tuesday ordered Meta Platforms to give rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp while they continue to investigate whether the company abused its market power by blocking competitors from the messaging app. The European Commission's decision to issue an interim measure against Meta - its first in 17 years - followed complaints from The Interaction Company of California, developer of the Poke.com AI assistant, French AI startup Agentik and a Spanish rival. Those complaints prompted the Commission, the EU's competition enforcer, to open an investigation in December last year. It issued charges against Meta two months later, alleging breaches of EU antitrust rules. "In rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted," EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement. "These interim measures will 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," she said. Meta criticised the Commission order. "The European Commission has decided that OpenAI and some of the largest companies in the world can use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free," a Meta spokesperson said in an email. "This is regulatory overreach subsidised by the many European companies that pay. We will appeal." Meta barred rival AI services from accessing its WhatsApp for Business application programming interface, which allows companies to connect their systems to WhatsApp, in October last year, while exempting its own assistant Meta AI. In March it allowed the competitors back onto the platform for a fee, a move that drew the Commission's objection. Under the interim measure, Meta must restore rivals' access to the WhatsApp for Business API on the same terms and conditions that applied before October, within five working days. Meta faces a fine of up to 10% of its global annual turnover if found to have breached EU antitrust rules. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Mark Potter/Sudip Kar-Gupta)