In short
- EU regulators have ordered Meta to restore AI’s competitive advantage to WhatsApp Business tools.
- Meta denounced the decision as a “constitutional violation” and vowed to appeal.
- The lawsuit stems from Meta’s decision to keep WhatsApp AI integrations in Meta AI, and a fine of up to 10% of global revenue for non-compliance.
The European Commission ordered Meta on Monday to give its AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp’s messaging app, deepening an antitrust fight that began when Meta banned competitors from its platform last October. Reuters reports.
The Vice President of the Commission Teresa Ribera said that the procedures are about to end throughout the investigation period, which started in December 2025. words.
The order requires Meta to restore access to third-party AI providers to the WhatsApp Business API as it existed before the ban.
Meta called the decision a “contravention of the law” and said it would appeal. “The European Commission has decided that OpenAI and other major companies in the world can use paid advertising on WhatsApp Business for free,” the company said in a statement to Reuters. “This is a violation of the law that many European companies pay for. We will appeal.”
The Commission began its investigation after Meta changed its policy to only allow Meta AI on WhatsApp and banned competing chatbots from the Business API. The policy change began on January 15, although the existing AIs had already been cut since October of 2025. The investigation looks at whether Meta abused its dominant position in the European messaging market by keeping the WhatsApp AI advantage to itself.
Ribera he emphasized the decision “will be reserved for citizens in Europe on the AI agents they want to use with WhatsApp, without making the decision for them.” Non-compliance can result in fines of up to 10% of Meta’s worldwide revenue.
This line shows a big conflict: AI companies want to be distributed among messaging platforms with billions of users, while platform owners want to make money. A learning differently from the IMDEA Networks Institute in May found that ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and Perplexity all share user information with third-party trackers including Meta, Google, and TikTok — even after users opt out. Grok was the main culprit: Visitors’ chats became public by default, and TikTok’s tracker received metadata of webcam images.
Meta has five working days to comply with the Commission’s demands as it prepares for an appeal.
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