Meta faces parallel antitrust investigations by EU Commission, Italian competition authority over AI use in WhatsApp

Context:

• In October, Meta announced a new policy prohibiting AI providers from using a tool allowing businesses to communicate with customers via WhatsApp when AI is the primary service offered (October 28, 2025 WhatsApp Business Solution Terms). While it was previously open to “any business of any size” since May 2022 (May 19, 2022 Tech Crunch article), the policy will be shut down from January 15, 2026, for “general-purpose artificial intelligence assistants, or similar technologies as determined by Meta in its sole discretion”, except for Meta AI, which is tied to WhatsApp. For AI providers new to WhatsApp, the policy has already applied since October 15, 2025.
• In July, the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM), Italy’s national competition authority, launched an investigation into Meta’s alleged violation of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Then, in October, it expanded the scope of that probe to include the embedding of Meta AI into WhatsApp (copy of decision below box). The AGCM is seeking urgent interim measures, which could include an order requiring Meta to grant access to WhatsApp Business to competing AI chatbot providers. Its main concerns include:
  • A refusal to grant access by Meta, which is dominant in the market for communication apps, may restrict competition in the AI chatbot market. By denying access to its competitors in the AI chatbot market, Meta is allegedly seeking to impede or hinder competition in that market, it warned.
  • The increasingly significant integration of Meta AI into WhatsApp may also generate a lock-in effect among WhatsApp users, who may become reluctant to switch to an alternative AI chatbot service provider.

What’s new: The European Commission has now also opened a formal antitrust investigation “as a matter of priority” into Meta’s new policy on AI providers’ access to WhatsApp, noting that it will cover the entire European Economic Area (EEA) aside from Italy to avoid an overlap with the AGCM’s ongoing probe (December 4, 2025 European Commission press release). The EU Commission will investigate whether Meta’s new policy breaches EU competition rules that prohibit the abuse of a dominant position (Article 102 of the TFEU and Article 54 of the EEA Agreement). It emphasized that its main concern is that the policy may prevent third-party providers from offering services through WhatsApp in the EEA. The antitrust concerns at the heart of the probe are:

• Tying (Meta AI is forced on the consumers in WhatsApp)
• Exclusionary conduct (competing AI assistants are denied access to the WhatsApp API)

Direct impact: This is a development that many AI providers across the EEA have welcomed, including the likes of Poke, an AI assistant (launched in the U.S. in September 2025 and getting ready for launch in Europe) that lives in messaging platforms (iMessage, for example) and connects to users’ email, calendar, and files, then acts on their behalf through simple text conversations – drafting replies, managing invoices, rescheduling meetings, and booking travel. Jérémie Jourdan of Geradin Partners, counsel to Poke, said he was very pleased to hear the EU Commission’s announcement today, noting that the contemplation of interim measures is a “rarity in Brussels”. He added:

“The fact that the [EU Commission] decided to dust off its interim measures tool and acted less than six weeks after learning about the conduct is a welcome sign that antitrust enforcement remains very much alive. Kudos and thanks to Teresa Ribera and the EC team for moving so fast.”

Wider ramifications: The EU’s new probe into Meta is the latest example of national competition authorities converging on AI issues. As well as Italy’s AGCM, Brazil’s Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (CADE) is also reviewing the case on a fast track (November 27, 2025 Valor International article). In July 2024, the four leading Western competition enforcers (U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Federal Trade Commission, European Commission, and UK Competition & Markets Authority) issued a joint statement on Generative AI (July 23, 2024 ai fray article), noting they would be comparing notes in light of the inherently cross-border nature of GenAI. Mr. Jourdan also noted:

“[This is] a clear reflection of the current climate surrounding AI and of the fear/risk of anticompetitive leveraging of market power in that space.”