The European Commission has ordered Meta Platforms to restore free access to WhatsApp for rival AI assistants while regulators investigate whether the company used its market position to disadvantage competitors.
The interim measure, announced by EU antitrust officials on Monday, applies to Meta’s WhatsApp for Business interface and requires the company to give competing AI services the same terms that were in place before October. Regulators said the order must be implemented within five working days and will remain in force for as long as the probe continues, or until June 2029 at the latest.
The case centers on concerns that Meta restricted access to WhatsApp for rival AI tools while exempting its own assistant, Meta AI. According to the Commission, Meta later allowed competitors back onto the platform in March, but only for a fee. Officials said that change did not resolve concerns that the pricing made it commercially unworkable for rivals.
EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said the company’s explanation did not persuade regulators. She said Meta appeared to be using WhatsApp’s scale and influence to support its own AI product and to shut out competing services. Ribera also pointed to the rapid development of AI markets, saying consumer access to AI through widely used platforms is becoming increasingly important across Europe.
The order comes after a series of complaints from rival developers, including The Interaction Company of California, which makes the Poke.com AI assistant, along with French startup Agentik and a Spanish competitor. Those complaints led the Commission to open an investigation in December. Two months later, regulators issued charges against Meta over alleged breaches of EU antitrust rules, followed by further charges in April after the company introduced access fees.
Meta pushed back strongly against the decision. A company spokesperson said the Commission had effectively decided that OpenAI and some of the world’s largest firms could use WhatsApp Business without paying. Meta described the move as regulatory overreach and said it would appeal.
The company has previously argued that AI services can already reach users through a range of channels, including app stores, operating systems, devices, websites and partnerships with other firms. It barred rival AI services from the WhatsApp for Business application programming interface in October, while keeping access open for Meta AI. The interface allows companies to connect their systems directly to WhatsApp.
The dispute adds to broader scrutiny of how large platforms control access to their ecosystems as AI products compete for distribution and users. For regulators, the question is whether Meta’s policies on WhatsApp unfairly favored its own service at a time when the AI market is still taking shape.
If the Commission ultimately finds Meta in breach of EU antitrust law, the company could face fines of up to 10% of its global annual turnover. For now, the interim order gives rival AI providers a temporary path back into one of the world’s most widely used messaging services while the investigation continues.