EU moves to force Meta to restore rival AI assistants’ access to WhatsApp

The European Commission on Wednesday said that it has sent Meta a fresh charge sheet, setting out its intention to order the company to restore third-party artificial intelligence assistants’ access to WhatsApp under the same conditions as before a policy change introduced last year.

The commission said the supplementary statement of objections is part of its interim measures procedure in an investigation into a potential abuse of dominant position by Meta through restrictions on rival AI assistants’ access to WhatsApp.

Meta’s conduct “risks blocking competitors from entering or expanding in the rapidly growing market for AI assistants,” a commission statement said.

The EU executive said Meta updated its WhatsApp Business Solution Terms on Oct. 15, 2025, effectively banning third-party general-purpose AI assistants from the application as of Jan. 15, 2026.

The commission opened formal proceedings on Dec. 4, 2025, and sent Meta a statement of objections on Feb. 9, saying the company’s conduct appeared at first sight to breach EU competition rules.

Meta later submitted its response and, on March 4, published a revised policy reversing the ban but introducing a pricing framework for third-party general-purpose AI assistants, according to the commission.

It said it preliminarily found that the revised policy seems to have the same effect as excluding third-party AI assistants from WhatsApp and appears at first sight to breach EU competition rules.

“To prevent serious and irreparable harm to competition, the Commission intends to order Meta to reinstate access for third-party AI assistants under the same conditions as before 15 October 2025, until it reaches a final decision on Meta’s conduct,” it said.

The commission said the interim measures, if adopted, would remain in place until the conclusion of the investigation and a final decision on Meta’s conduct.

In a separate decision, the commission also expanded the investigation to Italy in cooperation with the Italian competition authority, meaning its findings will now cover the whole European Economic Area.

Italy had previously been excluded from the commission’s investigation because the Italian competition authority had opened its own probe into the matter.

Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 54 of the European Economic Area Agreement prohibit the abuse of a dominant position that may affect trade and restrict competition in the single market.

The commission said sending a supplementary statement of objections does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation, and Meta can reply to the concerns.