The European Union has launched an unprecedented antitrust offensive against Meta, demanding it reopen WhatsApp to rival AI chatbots or face immediate sanctions. Regulators warn Meta’s lockout of competitors like ChatGPT and Gemini poses an urgent threat to the nascent AI market. This emergency intervention signals a major escalation in Europe’s campaign to prevent U.S. tech giants from dominating the future of artificial intelligence.
In a rare and aggressive step, the European Commission issued formal antitrust charges and is preparing to invoke emergency powers to force Meta to restore competitor access to WhatsApp’s business platform. Officials argue that by banning third-party AI assistants this past January, Meta is leveraging its billions of encrypted messaging users to gain an unassailable head start in the AI assistant race. The Commission fears that by the time a traditional, years-long investigation concludes, the market could be irreversibly tilted in Meta’s favor, permanently handicapping European and other AI startups.
Meta forcefully disputes the allegations, stating the EU’s logic is flawed. A company spokesperson argued that numerous AI options remain accessible through app stores and other channels and denied that WhatsApp’s Business API is a critical gateway. The company’s pushback sets the stage for a high-stakes legal clash that tests the limits of EU regulatory power over digital markets.
EU Antitrust Chief Teresa Ribera defended the urgent move, framing it as essential for market health and consumer choice, not geopolitics. She emphasized that preventing companies from abusing past success to block future innovation is a core principle. The case reflects deep-seated anxiety in Brussels over Europe’s AI deficit; despite massive public investment, European business adoption lags far behind the U.S., and officials view open platforms as crucial for homegrown challengers.
The emergency measures being considered are a tool of last resort, used only once in twenty years. They require proof of imminent, irreparable harm to competition—a threshold the Commission believes Meta’s actions meet. This case mirrors earlier action by Italian authorities, who already imposed interim measures on Meta in December, citing similar concerns over entrenching market dominance during AI’s formative stage.
For Meta, the legal stakes are compounded by a history of massive EU penalties, including fines for data privacy, market tying, and merger violations totaling billions of euros. The company now faces a regulatory pincer movement: defend its AI strategy in a potentially protracted legal battle while simultaneously complying with immediate orders that could dismantle its chosen integration model for Meta AI on one of the world’s largest messaging platforms.
