The European Commission has initiated an antitrust investigation into Meta's updated WhatsApp business API policy, citing concerns that the new rules may impede competition among artificial intelligence (AI) providers. The probe, announced Thursday, focuses on a policy change that bans general-purpose AI chatbots from third-party developers on WhatsApp's platform while Meta's own 'Meta AI' chatbot remains accessible.
WhatsApp's revised business API policy, introduced in October and set to take effect in January, prohibits general-purpose AI chatbots from utilizing the application programming interface. Companies such as OpenAI, Perplexity, and Poke, which offer rival AI chatbots, are affected by this change. However, the policy does not impact businesses that employ AI for customer service purposes on WhatsApp, such as AI-powered customer support bots for retailers.
The European Union's executive arm expressed concerns that the policy could "prevent third-party AI providers from offering their services through WhatsApp in the European Economic Area ('EEA')." According to a Commission statement, this could lead to competing AI providers being "blocked from reaching their customers through WhatsApp," while Meta's proprietary AI service maintains platform access.
Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition at the European Commission, stated that the investigation aims to ensure that "European citizens and businesses can benefit fully from this technological revolution" and to "prevent dominant digital incumbents from abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors." Ribera emphasized the need to act swiftly to prevent "irreparable harm to competition in the AI space."
In response, a spokesperson for WhatsApp described the EU's claims as "baseless." The company stated that its business API systems were not designed to support the strain imposed by the emergence of general-purpose AI chatbots. WhatsApp also noted that the AI market remains highly competitive, with users having access to alternative services through various channels, including app stores, search engines, and partnership integrations.
If Meta is found to be in breach of EU antitrust regulations, the company could face fines equivalent to up to 10% of its global annual revenue, in addition to other potential measures imposed by the Commission.
