The EU on Tuesday ordered Meta to give competing AI chatbots free access to its WhatsApp platform within five working days as part of an antitrust probe, or face a hefty fine.
The move follows the launch in December of an EU investigation into the US company’s policy of blocking access to AI providers other than Meta AI.
The European Commission, the EU’s digital watchdog, said Meta will have to maintain access to rivals until Brussels completes its investigation.
“Today we demand that Meta restore access to WhatsApp for competing AI assistants while we investigate whether the restrictions may violate EU competition rules,” EU Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera said in a statement.
“This will prevent Meta’s conduct, which prima facie infringes EU competition rules, from causing serious and irreparable harm to competition in this growing market,” the Commission said in a statement.
The EU had warned Meta that it would face interim measures if it did not open WhatsApp to competing AI assistants in February. The company then introduced access fees – a solution the EU rejected in April as unsatisfactory.
Traditional antitrust investigations can take years and European officials say decisions, often fines, come too late to see any positive change that could remedy the harm already caused.
The EU’s goal is for Meta to restore third-party AI assistants’ access to WhatsApp under the same conditions as before its October 2025 policy change, when it “effectively” banned them.
The commission said it had the power to impose a fine of up to 10% of the company’s total turnover in the financial year preceding the infringement if Meta “intentionally or negligently” contravenes the decision on interim measures.
Protecting a “growing market”
Brussels said the fees proposed earlier this year were “at first glance” “in practice equivalent to the previous access ban”.
The commission described an “urgent need” to protect a “growing market for general-purpose AI assistants” and give space to smaller players and new entrants to compete with large incumbents.
There is no legal deadline for ending the EU investigation.
The commission has had several run-ins with Meta as part of a broader crackdown on Big Tech’s abusive practices.
In April, European regulators found that Meta was failing to exclude under-13s from its Facebook and Instagram platforms, in violation of the bloc’s rules on digital content.
As part of the same investigation, European regulators are studying how Meta protects users’ physical and mental well-being, as well as the “addictive” design of Facebook and Instagram.
Meta also appealed a 200 million euro ($231 million) fine imposed last year by the EU under the online competition law, the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The DMA is not popular across the Atlantic, neither with the American administration of President Donald Trump, nor with the American giants themselves.
Apple criticized the law on Monday, accusing the DMA of delaying the rollout of AI-enhanced voice assistant Siri, which the EU has roundly rejected.
