The order caps months of back-and-forth. After Brussels opened its probe in December and warned in February that it might force Meta’s hand, the company dropped the outright ban in March but started charging rivals a fee to get back on.
The EU executive responded that the fee amounted, in practice, to locking out rivals, and moved to interim measures anyway. It is the second time the Commission has used the emergency power in more than two decades.
Meta has rejected the case as baseless, arguing that WhatsApp’s business interface was never built to carry AI chatbots and that rivals can reach users through app stores and other channels.
“The 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. This is regulatory overreach subsidised by the many European companies that pay. We will appeal,” a Meta spokesperson said.
The decision adds to a tense stretch between the company and Brussels. Meta is appealing a €200 million fine levied last year under the EU’s digital market power rules. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened retaliation over European penalties on American tech firms.
Italy and Brazil have pursued near-identical cases, with the Italian competition authority folding its probe into the EU investigation a day before Tuesday’s decision and Brazil’s forcing Meta to reopen access there in March.
Meta can face fines of up to 10 percent of annual revenue for ignoring the order. The broader investigation continues, with no deadline to conclude.
