The European Commission ordered Meta to grant rival AI chatbots free access to the WhatsApp platform. This interim measure remains effective until June 2029 or the conclusion of an ongoing antitrust investigation. Regulators issued the mandate to prevent irreparable harm to competition within the AI assistant market.
Meta must restore WhatsApp Business API access for third-party developers under terms used before October. Regulators allege Meta blocked rivals during that month to favor its own Meta AI service. The Commission rejected Meta’s proposal to charge competitors a fee, deeming the cost economically unsustainable.
Meta characterized the decision as regulatory overreach. The company announced its intention to appeal the order.