According to The Verge, the European Union has launched a formal antitrust investigation into Meta over AI restrictions in WhatsApp. The probe, announced by the European Commission, aims to prevent “irreparable harm to competition” and follows Meta’s October policy update for businesses. That update prohibits companies from using WhatsApp’s API to distribute third-party AI chatbots, a rule that took effect October 15 for new providers and will apply to existing ones by January 15, 2026. As a result, OpenAI and Microsoft have already announced they’ll remove ChatGPT and Copilot from the platform. The EU is assessing if Meta abused a dominant position, and if found guilty, the company could face fines up to 10% of its global revenue, which would be a staggering $16.45 billion based on its 2024 earnings.
Who gets squeezed?
So, who actually feels the pinch here? For users, it’s a classic walled garden move. You might want to use a specific AI assistant you’re already paying for within your most-used messaging app, but suddenly your options are limited. Businesses that integrated a particular AI tool into their customer service on WhatsApp now face a costly and disruptive switch. And for the AI developers themselves, especially the smaller ones? This is brutal. WhatsApp is a massive channel with billions of users. Being cut off from it isn’t just an inconvenience; it can be an existential threat, limiting their reach and growth potential. Here’s the thing: Meta’s own “Meta AI” gets to stay, no problem. That’s the core of the EU’s complaint.
Meta’s big gamble
Look, Meta isn’t stupid. They see AI as the next platform war, and they control one of the world’s largest communication networks. Of course they want to steer that traffic toward their own services. It’s a classic playbook: use your dominance in one area (messaging) to boost your position in a new, adjacent market (AI). But the EU’s competition commissioner, Teresa Ribera, is signaling they’re not going to let that slide this time. In the official announcement, she was clear: they must “act to prevent dominant digital incumbents from abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors.” Basically, the EU is drawing a line in the sand early, before the AI market fully solidifies. They don’t want a repeat of the search or mobile OS battles.
The bigger picture
This isn’t just about chatbots on WhatsApp. It’s a precedent-setting move. If the EU succeeds, it could force other gatekeeper platforms to keep their messaging APIs more open to competing AI models. Think about Apple’s iMessage, Google Messages, or even social media DMs. Will they face similar scrutiny if they try to lock out third-party AI? Probably. The fines are eye-watering, but for Meta, the strategic control of the platform might be worth the risk and the legal fight. The real question is: will this investigation move fast enough? With the final deadline for existing providers not until 2026, the market could shift dramatically by the time any ruling comes down. The EU is trying to get ahead of it, but tech moves faster than regulation. Always has.
