EU warns Meta WhatsApp AI fee breaches antitrust rules, orders rollback

BRUSSELS: The European Commission said on Wednesday it intended to order Meta Platforms to reinstate rival artificial intelligence assistants on its WhatsApp messaging service after the U.S. ​tech giant imposed an access fee.

“The Commission notified Meta that the ​revised policy seems to have the same effect of excluding third-party ⁠AI assistants from WhatsApp and thus appears at first sight to ​be in breach of EU competition rules,” the EU’s executive arm said.

Interim measures, ​which the Commission imposes when it has concerns of damage to competition, would remain in place until the end of the investigation, it said.

“To prevent serious and irreparable harm ​to competition, the Commission intends to order Meta to reinstate access for ​third-party AI assistants under the same conditions as before 15 October 2025,” it added ‌in ⁠a statement.

Meta previously informed the Commission in March that it would allow rival AI assistants on WhatsApp for one year, contingent on a fee, after initially planning to ban third-party AI chatbots from WhatsApp Business.

“The European Commission is proposing ​to use its ​regulatory powers to ⁠enable some of the largest companies in the world to use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free,” a ​Meta spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

“This means that ​a small ⁠bakery in France paying to use the service to take croissant orders will be picking up the tab for OpenAI. Small European businesses shouldn’t foot OpenAI’s ⁠bill,” ​the spokesperson added.

The Commission also said that ​its investigation had been expanded to Italy, where the Italian competition watchdog had opened its own probe ​last year.