The European Union sets its sights on WhatsApp. Brussels announced the opening of an antitrust investigation into the new policy pursued by Meta, the owner of the messaging service, in implementing artificial intelligence functions in the application. The executive wants to know whether the access of AI providers to WhatsApp could harm competition in the AI sector.
“We are investigating whether the new Meta policy may be illegal under competition rules and whether we should act quickly to avoid potential irreparable harm to competition in the field of artificial intelligence,” Competition Commissioner and European Commission Vice-President Teresa Ribera said in a statement.
The community’s CEO suspects that Meta’s new policy on AI providers’ access to WhatsApp, announced in October 2025, could violate EU competition rules.
The Commission added: “Competing AI service providers could be prevented from reaching their customers through WhatsApp,” while “Meta’s own service, Meta AI, will remain accessible to users of the platform.”
The European Commission is opening the investigation in the context of its traditional antitrust rules, and not within the framework of the Digital Markets Regulation (DMA), European legislation designed to address the dominance of large online platforms.
The new policy of Mark Zuckerberg’s technology company prohibits artificial intelligence service providers from using a tool that allows companies to communicate with their customers via the WhatsApp application. WhatsApp Business solutionThe committee noted that artificial intelligence is the main service they provide.
Brussels recognizes that companies will be able to continue to use AI tools to perform “ancillary or support functions,” such as automated customer service through WhatsApp, and fears that this new policy “may prevent third-party AI service providers from offering their services through WhatsApp in the European Economic Area (EEA).”
Meta, which is also the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, rolled out its AI functionality in WhatsApp in March in all European countries, after initially being delayed due to the complex European regulatory system. This feature is designed to act as an AI assistant within the app chat, and can suggest additional prompts and texts to complete messages.
The Commission understands that Meta “will implement the new policy by updating WhatsApp’s terms and conditions for business users.” WhatsApp Business API TermsFor AI providers already on WhatsApp, the update will be applied “as of January 15, 2026, while for new AI providers on WhatsApp, it will already be applied as of October 15, 2025.”
The formal investigation will cover the European Economic Area, excluding Italy, to avoid “overlapping” with the ongoing proceedings of the Italian Competition Authority regarding the possible imposition of precautionary measures on Meta. Italian antitrust authorities are already investigating Meta over allegations that it used its dominant position to integrate artificial intelligence into WhatsApp without users’ consent. Last month, Italian authorities expanded the investigation to include new terms for messaging services WhatsApp Business — a service for businesses — and new artificial intelligence features, arguing that the changes “may limit production, market access or technical progress in the messaging services market.” Chat bots With artificial intelligence.”
Brussels added that if confirmed, the practices investigated could violate EU competition rules prohibiting abuse of a dominant position.
“We strongly reject these baseless allegations,” a Meta spokesperson told Bloomberg. The WhatsApp API – the interface through which other services can be integrated with the messaging app – “was never designed to be used by AI-powered chatbots, and doing so would place a significant burden on our systems.”
Meta told the British Financial Times newspaper, which reported the news, that the latest update “does not affect tens of thousands of companies that provide customer service and send relevant updates, nor do companies that use the artificial intelligence assistant of their choice to chat with their customers.”
Ribera added, “AI markets are thriving in Europe and beyond (…). We must ensure that European citizens and companies can fully benefit from this technological revolution and work to prevent large, dominant digital players from abusing their power to drive out innovative competitors.”
The committee will now conduct its in-depth investigation as a priority. The CEO indicated that opening an official investigation does not affect its results, recalling that “there is no legal deadline for completing the antitrust investigation.”
European Union pressure
In recent years, the European Union has increased pressure on big technology companies to try to stop potential market abuses, as a small number of companies exercise enormous power in the European digital sector. A few weeks ago, a commercial court in Spain ruled that Meta should pay 542 million euros to Spanish media outlets for unfair competition. In April, the European Commission fined Meta €200 million for violating the Digital Markets Act, and in November 2024, it ordered it to pay €798 million for linking its Facebook Marketplace service to its social network, something regulators said constituted an abuse of a dominant position.
The European investigation into Meta also follows the launch of recent investigations under the Digital Markets Act into Alphabet, Google’s parent company, over its profiling of media in search results, and into Amazon and Microsoft for their cloud computing services. The Commission insisted that it would continue to enforce its digital regulations despite the risk of potential retaliation from Washington and continued criticism from the United States.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has lobbied the Trump administration against what the company says are excessive EU regulations that will leave the bloc behind the United States and China in the AI race. Both President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance have spoken out against European rules targeting major US technology companies after meetings with Zuckerberg. Last month, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced that the European Union must ease regulatory restrictions on technology during his visit to Brussels.