EU orders Meta to open WhatsApp to rival AI chatbots

EU Orders Meta to Open WhatsApp to Rival AI Chatbots for Free

The European Commission on Tuesday ordered Meta to restore free access to WhatsApp for competing AI assistants within five working days, marking the EU’s first interim antitrust measure in 17 years and capping a six-month regulatory battle over control of AI distribution in Europe’s dominant messaging platform.

A Landmark Intervention

EU antitrust commissioner Teresa Ribera said the order was necessary to prevent competition from disappearing before the broader investigation concludes. “Today, we mandate to restore to WhatsApp competing AI as we explore whether the limitations may violate EU competition laws,” Ribera said. She argued that in rapidly evolving markets, competition can be “lost long before a final decision is made,” causing “damage almost impossible to repair”.france24

The order requires Meta to reinstate access for third-party AI assistants to the WhatsApp for Business API under the same terms that existed before October 2025, when the company announced policy changes that effectively barred rival general-purpose AI services from the platform. The restrictions took effect on January 15, 2026, leaving only Meta AI available on the service.digitalpolicyalert

Complaints and Failed Compromises

The decision follows complaints from The Interaction Company of California, the creator of the Poke.com AI assistant, French startup Agentik, and a Spanish competitor. The Commission opened a formal investigation in December 2025 after smaller AI developers raised concerns that Meta was leveraging its messaging dominance to shut them out of the emerging AI assistant market.usnews

Meta attempted multiple concessions to avoid the order. In March, it offered rivals access for a fee. In May, it proposed free access up to a usage threshold before charging. Both proposals were rejected by complainants and the Commission, which concluded in a supplementary statement of objections in April that Meta’s pricing policy was “in effect equivalent to the previous ban on access”.channelnewsasia

What Comes Next

Meta faces fines of up to 10 percent of its global annual turnover if it fails to comply with the interim measures. The company can challenge the order before the EU’s courts in Luxembourg.yahoo

The ruling underscores the Commission’s willingness to act swiftly in AI markets. Felix Schlegel, co-founder of The Interaction Company, said ahead of an earlier hearing that “Meta is seeking to monopolize the use of WhatsApp for AI services by reserving it to its own offerings and excluding competitors like us”.indiatimes