EU Orders Meta to Restore Rival AI Access to WhatsApp

The European Commission ordered Meta to restore rival AI chatbots' access to the WhatsApp Business API under pre-ban terms within five days. The move escalates an antitrust investigation into whether Meta abused its dominance by reserving AI features for itself, with potential fines up to 10% of global revenue.

Source:Decrypt

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EU Orders Meta to Restore Rival AI Access to WhatsApp

TL;DRAI · 60 sec read

The European Commission ordered Meta to restore rival AI chatbots' access to WhatsApp's business messaging tools within five days.

Regulators issue interim measures in antitrust probe. The Commission directed Meta on Monday to reinstate third-party general-purpose AI assistants to the WhatsApp Business API under the same terms that existed before the ban. Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera said the measures would remain in place for the duration of the investigation, which started in December 2025. She stated that in rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted.

She stated that in rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted.

The order follows Meta's policy change that reserved WhatsApp AI integrations for its own Meta AI while blocking competitors. Existing AI providers had been cut off since October 2025, with the full policy shift taking effect on January 15.

Meta condemns decision as regulatory overreach. Meta called the Commission's action "regulatory overreach" and said it would appeal. The company stated that 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. Meta added that this is subsidized by the many European companies that pay.

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Investigation targets potential abuse of dominance. The probe examines whether Meta abused its dominant position in European messaging markets by reserving WhatsApp's AI access for itself. Non-compliance could trigger fines up to 10 percent of Meta's total global turnover. Ribera emphasized that 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.

Grok was the worst offender, with guest conversations public by default and TikTok's tracker receiving webcam image metadata.

Broader tensions surface in AI and messaging markets. The row highlights a broader tension where 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, with guest conversations public by default and TikTok's tracker receiving webcam image metadata.

Meta has five working days to comply with the order while it plans its appeal.

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