By Atoyebi Nike
Italian regulators have ordered Meta to allow rival AI chatbots access to its WhatsApp platform, citing concerns that the company may be abusing its dominant market position. The directive comes as both Italy and EU authorities investigate Meta’s rollout of AI services.
Meta has integrated its generative AI chatbot, Meta AI, across platforms including Facebook and Instagram, serving billions of users globally. In October, the company introduced new contractual terms for WhatsApp, effective January 15, which Italy’s competition regulator said “completely exclude Meta AI’s competitors from the WhatsApp platform in the AI Chatbot services market.”
The European Commission earlier this month launched an antitrust probe to determine whether Meta’s AI integration on WhatsApp breaches EU competition rules. Regulators warned that locking WhatsApp’s three billion users into Meta AI could give the company an unfair commercial advantage over rival chatbots.
Italy’s competition authority, which began its investigation in July, said that “Meta’s conduct appears to constitute an abuse, since it may limit production, market access or technical developments in the AI Chatbot services market, to the detriment of consumers.” The regulator issued an interim order requiring Meta to suspend the restrictive terms while the investigation continues, citing potential “serious and irreparable harm to competition.”
The Italian regulator will coordinate with the European Commission to ensure effective enforcement. Meta, however, has dismissed claims that its new terms hinder competition, calling the allegations “baseless.”
Meta also faces multiple ongoing EU investigations under the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, including cases concerning user access to public data, content moderation on Facebook and Instagram, platform addiction for children, and a separate 200-million-euro fine related to subscription policies.
