{"id":64637,"date":"2026-06-09T17:31:46","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T17:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/64637\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T17:31:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T17:31:46","slug":"eu-orders-meta-to-restore-whatsapp-access-for-rival-ai-chatbots-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/64637\/","title":{"rendered":"EU orders Meta to restore WhatsApp access for rival AI chatbots"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONDON (AP) \u2014 European Union regulators on Tuesday ordered Meta Platforms to restore access to WhatsApp for rival AI chatbot makers until an antitrust investigation<\/a> is complete. <\/p>\n

The bloc\u2019s executive Commission, which is the 27-nation EU\u2019s top antitrust and competition enforcer, said it was taking action to prevent harm to competition in the growing market for AI assistants before it\u2019s too late. <\/p>\n

The commission said it was imposing \u201cinterim measures\u201d while it continues its investigation into WhatsApp\u2019s artificial intelligence policy over concerns the company is breaching EU law by blocking competitors from offering their AI assistants on the platform.<\/p>\n

Meta said it would appeal. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe European Commission has decided that OpenAI and some of the largest companies in the world can use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free,\u201d the company said in a statement. \u201cThis is regulatory overreach subsidized by the many European companies that pay.\u201d <\/p>\n

Brussels has occasionally resorted to temporary orders after facing criticism that previous years-long antitrust investigations into Big Tech companies were too slow to rein in their market power. <\/p>\n

\u201cAI markets are developing exceptionally fast, and AI assistants are expected to become an important way for consumers all across Europe to access and use AI,\u201d the commission\u2019s executive vice-president overseeing competition, Teresa Ribera, told reporters in Brussels. <\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, when the damage can happen quickly and there is a risk of companies being forced to leave the market, we need to use our tools.\u201d<\/p>\n

EU regulators last year began scrutinizing updated terms and conditions<\/a> for Meta\u2019s business customers using AI assistants to communicate with customers over WhatsApp. <\/p>\n

They were concerned that the agreement prevented third-party AI companies from offering their assistants on the platform, leaving only Meta\u2019s chatbot service available to users. <\/p>\n

Meta attempted to resolve the probe by charging rivals for access, but that didn\u2019t satisfy regulators, who threatened in April to force the company to reinstate access for free. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Riber said Meta\u2019s fee was so high it was \u201cnot economically sustainable for competitors,\u201d without providing more details. The commission\u2019s order would remain in place until June 2029 or until the end of the investigation, which has no deadline. <\/p>\n

If Meta doesn\u2019t comply with the order, it could face fines of up to 10% of annual revenue. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON (AP) \u2014 European Union regulators on Tuesday ordered Meta Platforms to restore access to WhatsApp for rival…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[78,635,11514,39,310,4,40,1768,1307,2392,11574,11513,11678,834,8028],"class_list":["post-64637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-eu","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-business","tag-email-and-messaging","tag-eu","tag-eurocopa-2024","tag-europe","tag-european-union","tag-inc","tag-industry-regulation","tag-information-technology","tag-meta-platforms","tag-monopoly-and-antitrust","tag-openai-inc","tag-technology","tag-teresa-ribera"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}