Key Points
- The European Union has launched a new antitrust investigation into Meta. The probe focuses on Meta adding its own AI chatbot directly into WhatsApp.
- Regulators fear Meta is using its dominance to push its own AI and block rivals unfairly.
- Meta denies the claims, calling them “baseless” and stating the AI market is competitive.
- Italy is also conducting a similar, parallel investigation into the same issue.
The European Union is taking a closer look at Meta, launching a new antitrust investigation into how the company is rolling out artificial intelligence features on its hugely popular WhatsApp messaging service. The move signals growing regulatory scrutiny of how Big Tech companies are using the new wave of generative AI.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, announced the probe on Thursday. The investigation centers on Meta’s decision to integrate its own “Meta AI” system directly into WhatsApp.
The company added the chatbot to the app across Europe earlier this year, a move that immediately caught regulators’ attention. They worry that Meta might be using WhatsApp’s massive user base to give its own AI an unfair advantage over competitors.
Meta has pushed back strongly against the allegations. A WhatsApp spokesperson called the claims “baseless,” arguing that adding new chatbots strains its systems. The company also insists that the AI market is highly competitive and that users have many other choices available to them through app stores, search engines, and other platforms.
This isn’t the first time regulators have raised an eyebrow. Italy’s own antitrust watchdog started a similar investigation back in July. That probe was later expanded to examine whether Meta was actively blocking rival AI chatbots from operating on the messaging platform.
Interestingly, the EU is using its traditional antitrust rules for this investigation, not its new, powerful Digital Markets Act, which it is currently using to scrutinize other tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft.
