The European Commission has launched a formal antitrust investigation into Meta over its decision to exclusively offer its Meta AI chatbot to WhatsApp users while blocking other AI companies from accessing the platform's business tools.
In October, WhatsApp updated its Business API policy to ban general-purpose chatbots from operating on the app, saying the API was not intended as a distribution channel for third-party conversational AI. The policy is scheduled to take effect in January and could prevent services from companies such as OpenAI, Perplexity, and Poke from functioning within WhatsApp.
European regulators argue that Meta's move may limit competition in the fast-growing AI chatbot market by preventing rivals from reaching WhatsApp's massive user base. The Commission said the investigation will examine whether the restrictions violate EU competition rules.
