On Tuesday, a European regulator issued an emergency order ordering Meta to give rival artificial intelligence developers free access to WhatsApp, a decision that will remain in effect at least until a major antitrust investigation into the tech giant is concluded.
On Tuesday, a European regulator issued an emergency order ordering Meta to give rival artificial intelligence developers free access to WhatsApp, a decision that will remain in effect at least until a major antitrust investigation into the tech giant is concluded.
This is reported by POLITICO. By next week, Meta must restore the access conditions that were in effect until October of last year. Then, third-party AI assistants could freely use the messenger's business tools.
“In fast-growing markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is made,” said EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera, emphasizing that WhatsApp is a key gateway to European consumers.
The standoff between Brussels and Meta has been going on for several months. After launching an investigation in December 2025 and issuing warnings in February of this year, in March Mark Zuckerberg’s company lifted a complete ban on AI competitors, but introduced a fee for them to access its tools. The European Commission considered these fees to be a de facto blocking of competitors and applied interim measures — only the second time such an emergency power has been used in more than 20 years.
Meta itself calls the case baseless. The company claims that WhatsApp's business interface was not originally designed to accommodate AI chatbots, and competitors have enough other channels to attract users, for example, through app stores.
“The European Commission has decided that OpenAI and some of the world’s largest companies can use the paid WhatsApp Business product for free. This is regulatory arbitrariness, subsidized by many European companies that pay. We will appeal,” a Meta spokesperson said.
The dispute adds to tensions between Brussels and US tech companies. Meta is already appealing a €200 million fine imposed last year under EU digital market authority rules. Italy and Brazil are also investigating similar cases.
If Meta ignores the new European Commission order, it faces a fine of up to 10% of its annual revenue. A broader antitrust investigation is ongoing with no set deadline for its completion.
