The European Commission announced Thursday (Dec. 4) that it had launched a probe into whether the tech giant’s new policy on AI providers’ access to WhatApp violates European Union competition rules.
Meta’s new policy, announced in October, bars AI providers from using a tool allowing businesses to communicate with customers via WhatsApp, the “WhatsApp Business Solution,” when AI is the chief service offered.
“Businesses may still use AI tools for ancillary or support functions, such as automated customer support offered via WhatsApp,” the EC said in its announcement. “The Commission is concerned that such new policy may prevent third party AI providers from offering their services through WhatsApp in the European Economic Area.”
A spokesperson for WhatsApp told PYMNTS the claims behind the planned investigation are “baseless.”
“The emergence of AI chatbots on our Business API puts a strain on our systems that they were not designed to support,” the company said. “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.”
Meta introduced the AI feature for WhatsApp in March throughout Europe, after an earlier delay to the rollout, citing the region’s regulatory complexities. The feature was created to serve as an AI assistant that can suggest prompts and additional text to complete messages in the chat function.
The EC probe follows news from last month that Italy’s antitrust regulator had increased its scrutiny of Meta due to concerns that the company could be unfairly wielding its dominant position in the messaging market through its use of AI within WhatsApp.
The Italian antitrust authority, AGCM, believes the new AI-driven interaction features inside the app could impede fair competition in the market for AI chatbot services.
Regulators are looking into whether these changes could hold back competitors’ ability to enter or expand in the space, limit market choice, or hinder technological progress in messaging-based AI tools.
Meta was also recently ordered to pay 479 million euros (about $552 million) after a Spanish court found that the company had violated the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as Spain’s antitrust law.
Meta has said it would appeal the ruling.
These actions come as the Trump administration continues to push the EU to dial back its tech regulations, saying that the DMA and its sister rule the Digital Services Act place disproportionate pressure on American tech giants as these laws apply to companies that surpass specific user-base thresholds.
Source: https://www.pymnts.com/