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The European Commission on Thursday launched an antitrust probe into Meta over its AI policy on WhatsApp.
The decision comes just 10 days after United States trade officials visited Brussels and warned that punishing tariffs on European Union steel and aluminium could remain in place if the implementation of digital rules targeting Big Tech was not watered down.
“AI markets are booming in Europe and beyond,” EU competition commissioner Teresa Ribera said, defending the probe.
“We must ensure European citizens and businesses can benefit fully of this technological revolution and act to prevent dominant digital incumbents from abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors.”
Concerns over market dominance
The Commission is investigating a new Meta policy that could block AI providers from communicating with WhatsApp users, potentially giving Meta’s own AI service an edge.
Earlier this year, Meta integrated its AI system into WhatsApp including business-managed chat groups.
Until October, businesses could deploy AI bots in those groups to handle client issues or provide support services, but Meta’s new rules could curb such integrations, raising concerns that the company could abuse its position.
The probe was not launched under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, long criticised by the US, but it could still complicate EU-US talks over tariffs as high as 50%. The Trump administration has accusing Brussels of targeting American firms and called EU fines on tech companies a “tax”.
A WhatsApp spokesperson dismissed the EU’s claims as “baseless.”
“The emergence of AI chatbots on our Business API puts a strain on our systems that they were not designed to support,” the spokesperson said.
“Even still, the AI space is highly competitive and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems.”