EU orders Meta to open WhatsApp to rival AI chatbots

The EU has told Meta that it must allow AI chatbots operated by rival firms to use WhatsApp for free.

The European Commission said the firm would need to maintain that access while it concluded an antitrust investigation into the tech giant's decision to bar access for AI providers, other than Meta AI, on the messaging platform.

It said the intervention was needed to prevent "serious and irreparable harm to competition in this growing market by Meta's conduct", which it said appeared to infringe EU competition rules.

Meta has reacted angrily, accusing the Commission of "regulatory overreach." It says it will appeal.

The EU said it began its investigation, in December 2025, after Meta banned third-party general-purpose AI assistants from the WhatsApp for Business API.

It said that appeared to be an abuse of Meta's dominant position in European markets.

So, as an interim measure as its investigation continues, it has given Meta five working days to re-instate access for third-party general-purpose AI assistants to the WhatsApp for Business API under the same terms and conditions that were in place previously.

"In rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted", said Teresa Ribera, the Commission's executive vice-president for clean, just and competitive transition.