Africa-Press – Lesotho. The European Commission on Monday notified Meta of its preliminary view that the company may have breached EU competition rules by excluding third-party artificial intelligence (AI) assistants from WhatsApp, a move that could harm competition in the rapidly growing AI market.
In a statement, the EU Commission said Meta’s policy change risks blocking competitors from entering or expanding in the market for general-purpose AI assistants.
Brussels is therefore considering interim measures to reverse the exclusion while the investigation continues.
Meta, whose main products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, also provides its own general-purpose AI tool, Meta AI.
According to the EU Commission, Meta announced an update to its WhatsApp Business Solution Terms in October 2025, effectively banning third-party AI assistants from accessing and interacting with users on the platform. Since January, Meta AI has been the only AI assistant available on WhatsApp.
The EU Commission said it preliminarily considers this conduct to be in breach of EU antitrust rules.
At this stage of the investigation, the commission considers that Meta is likely to hold a dominant position in the European Economic Area market for consumer communication applications, notably through WhatsApp.
It also takes the preliminary view that Meta may be abusing this dominant position by refusing access to WhatsApp to third-party AI assistants.
According to the EU Commission, Meta’s conduct could raise barriers to entry and expansion and irreversibly marginalize smaller competitors in the AI assistant market.
Meta now has the opportunity to reply to the commission’s concerns and exercise its rights of defense.
If, after hearing Meta’s defence, the EU Commission concludes that the legal conditions are met, it may adopt a decision imposing interim measures. Such a decision would not prejudge the final findings on the substance of the case.
“Artificial intelligence is bringing incredible innovations to consumers, and one of these is the emerging market of AI assistants. We must protect effective competition in this vibrant field, which means we cannot allow dominant tech companies to illegally leverage their dominance to give themselves an unfair advantage,” said Teresa Ribera, the EU Commission executive vice-president for clean, just, and competitive transition.
