The European Commission’s decision to issue an interim measure against Meta followed complaints from The Interaction Company of California, developer of the Poke.com AI assistant, French AI startup Agentik and a Spanish rival
Meta Platforms has been ordered by EU antitrust regulators to give rival AI chatbots such as OpenAI free access to WhatsApp while they continue to investigate whether the company abused its market power by blocking competitors from the messaging app.
The European Commission’s decision to issue an interim measure against Meta followed complaints from The Interaction Company of California, developer of the Poke.com AI assistant, French AI startup Agentik and a Spanish rival.
Those complaints prompted the Commission, the EU’s competition enforcer, to open an investigation in December. It issued charges against Meta two months later, alleging breaches of EU antitrust rules, and additional charges in April after Meta levied access fees.
EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said Meta’s fees were so high that it was not economically sustainable for competitors and the company’s justification failed to convince.
It seems that Meta expects to leverage the vast reach and likely dominance of WhatsApp to benefit its own AI assistant and to foreclose rivals, she told a press conference.
It is now a critical time. AI markets are developing exceptionally fast and AI systems are expected to become an important way for consumers all across Europe to access and use AI, Ribera said.
She said the interim order would last as long as the investigation continues or at the latest until June 2029.
Meta, which has previously pointed to AI options available via app stores, operating systems, devices, websites, and industry partnerships, objected to the Commission order.
The European Commission has decided that OpenAI and some of the largest companies in the world can use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free, a Meta spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said: This is regulatory overreach subsidised by the many European companies that pay. We will appeal.
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