The European Union has launched an antitrust investigation into Meta Platforms' use of AI features in WhatsApp that would block rivals.
According to the EU, Meta’s new policy announced in October prohibits AI providers from using a tool that allows businesses to communicate with customers via WhatsApp, the ‘WhatsApp Business Solution', when AI is the primary service offered.
The Commission has become concerned about the new policy preventing third-party AI providers from offering services through the messaging app in the European Economic Area (EEA), while allowing Meta AI to remain accessible to users on the platform.
A WhatsApp spokesperson told Reuters that “the claims are baseless”, adding that the additions of chatbots on its platforms put “a strain on our systems that they were not designed to support".
"Even still, the AI space is highly competitive, and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems,” the spokesperson said.
This parallels an Italian investigation from July into allegations that Meta leveraged its market power by integrating an AI tool into WhatsApp.
The EU probe will be conducted under traditional antitrust rules rather than the EU’s Digital Markets Act, the bloc’s legislation that is being used to scrutinise Amazon and Microsoft’s cloud services.
