Brussels has launched an antitrust investigation into Metaplatform's rollout of artificial intelligence capabilities to WhatsApp, the European Commission announced Thursday, amid increased scrutiny of big tech companies' use of generative AI.
This move was previously reported Reuters and financial timesThe move is the latest move by European regulators against big tech companies such as Amazon and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, as the European Union seeks to balance support for the sector with efforts to curb its growing influence.
Europe's tough stance on regulations has sparked an industry backlash, particularly from big U.S. tech companies, and led to criticism from President Donald Trump's administration.
The European Commission said its investigation will examine Meta's new policies restricting access to WhatsApp by other AI providers, which it said could boost its own Meta AI system, which was integrated into the platform earlier this year.
Teresa Rivera, the EU's antitrust chief, said in a statement that the move is aimed at ensuring European citizens and businesses fully benefit from AI and preventing dominant companies from “abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors.”
“The AI market is booming in Europe and other regions,” she said. “That is why we are investigating whether Meta's new policies may be illegal under competition rules.”
A WhatsApp spokesperson said the claims were “unfounded”, adding that the emergence of chatbots on its platform had “burdened systems that were not designed to support them”, citing other providers' AI systems.
“Still, the AI space is highly competitive, and people have many ways to access their preferred services, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems.”
Meta AI VS Rival AI Chatbot
Meta AI, a chatbot and virtual assistant, has been integrated into the WhatsApp interface across European markets since March. The commission said the new policy, which will take full effect from January 15, 2026, could block competing AI providers from accessing customers through the platform.
“The conduct under investigation, if proven, could violate EU competition rules prohibiting the abuse of a dominant position,” the European Commission said.
Italy's antitrust watchdog launched a parallel investigation in July into allegations that Meta used its market power by integrating AI tools into WhatsApp. The investigation expanded in November to investigate whether Meta further abused its dominance by blocking competing AI chatbots from its messaging platform.
Antitrust investigations are a more traditional investigative tool than the EU's Digital Markets Act, the EU's landmark law currently being used to scrutinize Amazon and Microsoft's cloud services for potential regulation.
