TLDR
- Meta will allow rival AI chatbots on WhatsApp for 12 months in Europe, for a fee, to avoid EU regulatory action.
- The European Commission had threatened interim measures after Meta blocked rivals from WhatsApp on January 15.
- Meta says the move removes the need for immediate intervention while regulators conclude their investigation.
- A competitor, The Interaction Company, says the fee-based access is just as restrictive as the original ban.
- Meta’s policy changes will also apply in Brazil after a court reinstated an antitrust injunction.
Meta said it will open WhatsApp to rival AI chatbots in Europe for the next 12 months, but there’s a catch — they’ll have to pay for access.
The move comes after the European Commission threatened to issue interim measures against Meta, citing potential harm to competitors that had been blocked from the platform.
Meta cut off rival AI providers from WhatsApp on January 15, keeping only its own Meta AI assistant on the service.
The company confirmed it will support third-party AI chatbots through the WhatsApp Business API in Europe while regulators carry out their investigation.
“We believe that this removes the need for any immediate intervention as it gives the European Commission the time it needs to conclude its investigation,” a Meta spokesperson said.
The Commission said it is still analysing how Meta’s changes affect its interim measures review and its wider antitrust probe.
Not Everyone Is Convinced
Not everyone is happy with the arrangement. The Interaction Company, a California-based firm and EU complainant, called the move a smokescreen.
Its CEO Marvin von Hagen said Meta is now charging fees that make it just as hard to operate on WhatsApp as the outright ban did.
“What Meta presents as good-faith compliance is in reality the opposite,” von Hagen said.
He described the fee structure as replacing one anti-competitive restriction with another, and called on Brussels to push ahead with an interim order.
Meta had previously argued that more chatbots on its platforms strain its systems, and pointed to other available channels like app stores, search engines, and operating systems.
Brazil Joins the Picture
The story doesn’t stop at Europe’s borders.
Meta said the same policy changes will apply in Brazil after a court reinstated an antitrust injunction from the country’s competition authority on Wednesday.
That injunction had been suspended by a different court in January, but is now back in force.
The Brazilian case mirrors the EU and Italian situations closely.
Meta had already opened WhatsApp to rivals in Italy in January following an order from the Italian antitrust authority, which is still running its own investigation.
The EU is now reviewing whether Meta’s latest offer is enough to pause or close its interim measures process.
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