EU Launches Antitrust Probe Into Meta Over WhatsApp AI Features

AFP/APP

Brussels, Belgium: The European Union on Thursday opened an antitrust investigation into Meta to determine whether the company’s rollout of new AI features on WhatsApp violates the bloc’s competition rules.

The case marks the latest move by the 27-nation EU to curb the influence of major technology firms, amid strong resistance from the administration of US President Donald Trump.

Unlike recent actions under the EU’s strengthened digital regulations — which Washington has criticised as unfairly targeting American companies — this probe falls under the bloc’s traditional antitrust framework.

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The European Commission said it was concerned that Meta’s newly announced policy “may prevent third-party AI providers from offering their services through WhatsApp,” potentially limiting competition in the rapidly expanding AI services market.

WhatsApp rejected the concerns as “baseless.”

EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said the bloc must act decisively to ensure powerful digital platforms do not use their dominance to shut out rivals.

“We must prevent dominant digital incumbents from abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors,” Ribera said. “This is why we are investigating whether Meta’s new policy might be illegal under competition rules, and whether swift action is needed to avoid any irreparable harm to competition in the AI space.”