EU Tells Meta to Reopen WhatsApp to Competing AI Chatbots

European Union competition authorities have instructed Meta Platforms to let competing AI chatbot developers return to WhatsApp while a wider antitrust case remains under review.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the 27-member bloc and its leading competition watchdog, said Tuesday that the step was needed to stop possible damage to rivalry in the fast-expanding AI assistant sector before the market is locked up.

The commission said the temporary directive, described as interim measures, forms part of its ongoing examination of WhatsApp’s artificial intelligence rules. Regulators are looking at whether Meta may be violating EU law by shutting out other companies that want to offer AI assistants through the messaging service.

Meta said it plans to challenge the decision. "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 subsidised by the many European companies that pay."

Officials in Brussels have sometimes used short-term orders in technology cases after criticism that earlier antitrust probes into major digital companies dragged on for years and failed to curb their influence quickly enough.

"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," Teresa Ribera, the commission executive vice-president responsible for competition, 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 opened scrutiny last year into revised terms for Meta business clients that use AI assistants to deal with customers on WhatsApp. Their concern was that the arrangement barred outside AI firms from putting their assistants on the platform, leaving users with only Meta’s chatbot option.

Meta tried to settle the matter by proposing that rival services pay for entry, but regulators rejected that approach. In April, they warned the company it could be ordered to provide access again at no cost.

Ribera said Meta’s proposed charge was so steep that it was "not economically sustainable for competitors", but she did not give further figures. The commission said its order will apply until June 2029 or until the investigation finishes, and the probe itself has no fixed end date.

If Meta fails to follow the order, the company could be fined as much as 10 per cent of its yearly revenue.