The European Commission has notified Meta that it plans to impose “interim measures” to prevent the company from blocking third-party AI assistants on WhatsApp.
On Monday, the EU indicated that its preliminary assessment is that Meta may have violated EU antitrust regulations. The Commission noted that the investigation is ongoing and any measures would allow Meta to respond and exercise its right to defense.
Teresa Ribera, the EU Commissioner for Competition, emphasized that the move is aimed at stopping “dominant tech companies from exploiting their market power to gain unfair advantages” and ensuring “effective competition” in the digital space.
“With AI markets evolving rapidly, swift action is necessary. That is why we are considering interim measures on Meta to guarantee competitors’ access to WhatsApp while the investigation proceeds, and to prevent the company’s new policy from causing irreversible harm to competition in Europe,” Ribera added.
The Commission said the scrutiny stems from Meta’s October update to its WhatsApp Business Solution Terms, which “effectively” barred third-party general-purpose AI assistants from the platform. This policy took effect in January.
A Commission spokesperson explained that the interim measures would require Meta to maintain access for third-party AI assistants under the previous terms while the investigation continues.
Meta responded by saying, “There is no reason for the EU to intervene in the WhatsApp Business API. Users have many options to access AI through app stores, operating systems, devices, websites, and partnerships. The Commission incorrectly assumes the API is a critical distribution channel for these chatbots.”
The EU has previously fined major U.S. tech companies for breaching its regulations. In April 2025, Apple was fined €500 million for violating anti-steering rules, while Meta received a €200 million penalty for failing to offer consumers alternatives that use less personal data. In September, Google was fined €2.95 billion for antitrust violations related to online advertising.
