- Lead. The European Commission on June 9 ordered Meta to restore access to the WhatsApp Business API for rival AI chatbot developers within five days, imposing interim measures under EU competition law while a formal antitrust investigation continues.
- Fact. The investigation, opened in December 2025, centres on Meta’s decision to ban third-party general-purpose AI assistants from WhatsApp for Business and subsequently charge fees that regulators described as “economically unsustainable” for smaller competitors.
- Stake. Non-compliance could cost Meta fines of up to 10% of its annual global revenue; the order runs until June 2029 or until the investigation concludes, guaranteeing rivals access to a platform with over two billion users for at least three years.
What triggered the action
Meta blocked third-party general-purpose AI assistants from the WhatsApp for Business API in late 2025, initially through terms and conditions changes, then by proposing fees that competing developers said made integration commercially unworkable. Complaints were filed by The Interaction Company of California, developer of the Poke.com AI assistant; French AI startup Agentik; and a Spanish rival.
The Commission’s competition chief, Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera, justified the urgency of interim measures directly: “AI markets are developing exceptionally fast…we need to use our tools.” The Commission characterised the situation as one where competitive damage could become irreversible if the investigation ran its full course before remedies were applied, according to The Washington Post.
Meta’s response
Meta rejected the ruling, calling it “regulatory overreach subsidized by…European companies that pay,” and indicated it would appeal. The practical effect is nevertheless immediate: Meta must restore access under the commercial terms that predated the ban, giving rival AI developers fee-free use of the WhatsApp Business API pending the outcome.
The order is the latest episode in the EU’s sweeping antitrust scrutiny of Big Tech’s role in AI. The Commission has argued that control over widely used communication platforms — WhatsApp is the dominant messaging service across large parts of Europe, Asia, and Latin America — grants incumbents a structural advantage in the AI assistant market that smaller developers cannot overcome without regulatory intervention.
The wider regulatory picture
The WhatsApp ruling lands as the EU’s Digital Markets Act enforcement machinery accelerates. The June 9 interim measure is grounded in Article 8 of EU Regulation 1/2003 — the older competition law framework — allowing the Commission to act faster than the DMA’s formal procedures permit when competitive harm is deemed urgent. Meta faces a parallel investigation in the United States, where the FTC’s long-running case over its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp continues. European regulators have generally moved faster and more aggressively on both AI competition and platform dominance in the current cycle.