Key Highlights:
- Italy’s antitrust regulator, AGCM, has ordered Meta to suspend its WhatsApp policy that blocks third-party AI chatbots, as the investigation continues.
- The investigation focuses on whether Meta favored its own Meta AI inside WhatsApp by banning rival general-purpose AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude.
- Meta has rejected the order as “fundamentally flawed” and says it will appeal, arguing WhatsApp’s Business API was never meant to distribute AI chatbots.
Europe is one of the markets across the globe where tech giants find themselves under heavy scrutiny from the European Commission. Meta, this time, has found itself in a spot of bother after introducing a WhatsApp policy that blocks third-party AI providers.
Italy’s antitrust regulator asks Meta to suspend its WhatsApp policy that blocks third-party AI providers
Earlier this month, the European Commission launched a separate investigation into this matter. At the time, the regulator announced that the probe will cover the entire EEA, except one country, Italy. That’s because Italy’s competition watchdog, theItalian Competition Authority (AGCM), launched the probe early and the investigation is going on. Well, there’s a new development in this matter. AGCM has now directed Meta to suspend its WhatsApp policy that blocks third-party companies from using its business tools to offer their AI chatbots. Not to mention it’s another headache for Facebook’s parent company.
Do note that the Italian antitrust regulator hasn’t concluded the investigation yet. However, it has found sufficient evidence in its ongoing investigation to intervene while the probe continues. The authority is investigating whether Meta abused its dominant market position by pushing its own Meta AI chatbot inside WhatsApp while restricting rival AI services.
“Meta’s conduct appears to constitute an abuse, since it may limit production, market access, or technical developments in the AI Chatbot services market, to the detriment of consumers,” the Authority wrote. “Moreover, while the investigation is ongoing, Meta’s conduct may cause serious and irreparable harm to competition in the affected market, undermining contestability.”
Why AGCM is concerned
For the uninitiated, the investigation centers on a policy change Meta introduced in October, which updated WhatsApp’s Business API terms to ban general-purpose AI chatbots from being offered on the platform. According to the company, the new policy will take effect in January, and would directly impact AI services from companies such as OpenAI, Perplexity, and Poke.
Regulators are concerned that blocking rival AI bots while allowing Meta AI inside WhatsApp could shift the competitive landscape in Meta’s favor. Notably, the policy doesn’t affect businesses using AI for customer support on WhatsApp. For example, retailers running AI-powered service bots can continue using the API. The restriction applies specifically to standalone, general-purpose AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude.
Meta pushes back against the latest order
Meta, however, has responded strongly against the Italian authority’s decision, calling it “fundamentally flawed.” In a statement to TechCrunch, the company argued that WhatsApp’s Business API was never intended to function as a distribution channel for AI chatbots.
“The emergence of AI chatbots on our Business API put a strain on our systems that they were not designed to support,” Meta said. “The Italian authority assumes WhatsApp is somehow a defacto app store. The route to market for AI companies are the app stores themselves, their websites and industry partnerships; not the WhatsApp Business Platform. We will appeal.”
As of now, Italy’s order forces Meta to suspend its WhatsApp policy while the investigation continues. It’ll be interesting to see what’ll be the outcome of the investigation. For Meta, the separate investigation by the EC is yet another headache. Only time will tell if it gets a green night from both the authorities. Whatever may be the verdict, we’ll update it here.
Source: https://www.timesofai.com/