Hustler Words – The European Commission has launched a formal antitrust investigation into Meta’s recent policy change that effectively bars rival AI chatbot providers from accessing WhatsApp’s business tools. This move raises concerns about potential anti-competitive practices within the burgeoning AI market.
The investigation centers around WhatsApp’s October announcement that it would be amending its business API policy to prohibit general-purpose AI chatbots from operating on the platform. Set to take effect in January, this policy shift would impact the availability of AI services from companies like OpenAI, Perplexity, and Poke, which currently leverage WhatsApp’s API to connect with users.
While the policy change doesn’t affect businesses utilizing AI for customer service within WhatsApp – for example, a retailer using an AI-powered support bot – it specifically targets broad AI chatbot applications similar to ChatGPT.
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The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, expressed concern that Meta’s policy could "prevent third-party AI providers from offering their services through WhatsApp in the European Economic Area (EEA)."
"As a result of the new policy, competing AI providers may be blocked from reaching their customers through WhatsApp. On the other hand, Meta’s own AI service ‘Meta AI’ would remain accessible to users on the platform," the Commission stated, highlighting the potential for unfair advantage.
Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition at the European Commission, emphasized the importance of a level playing field in the AI sector. "AI markets are booming in Europe and beyond. We must ensure European citizens and businesses can benefit fully from this technological revolution and act to prevent dominant digital incumbents from abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors," she said. "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."
If found in violation of EU antitrust regulations, Meta could face a fine of up to 10% of its global annual revenue. The Commission also has the authority to impose additional measures to address the anti-competitive behavior.
Meta has not yet released an official statement regarding the investigation.
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