Meta replaced a flat ban on rival AI chatbots in WhatsApp with a fee. The European Commission’s preliminary verdict: same ban, different paperwork.

On Wednesday, the EU’s executive arm said it intends to order Meta to reinstate third-party AI assistants on WhatsApp under the same conditions that existed before its October 15, 2025 policy change. The interim measures would stay in place until the Commission wraps its broader antitrust investigation, opened in December.

Meta initially planned to block third-party AI chatbots from WhatsApp Business entirely. Under regulatory pressure, the company shifted course in March, offering to let rivals onto the platform for one year — provided they paid a fee.

EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera was blunt. “Replacing the legal ban with pricing that has a similar effect does not change our preliminary view that Meta’s conduct appears to be an abuse of its dominant position, that may seriously harm competition,” she said.

The Commission’s concern is structural. WhatsApp has more than three billion users globally. Locking that user base into Meta’s own AI assistant could give the company a commercial advantage over rival chatbots, particularly smaller market entrants. Regulators worry the fee functions as a barrier designed to look like a concession.

Meta pushed back. “The European Commission is proposing to use its regulatory powers to enable some of the largest companies in the world to use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free,” a company spokesperson said, framing the issue as big AI firms freeloading at small businesses’ expense. “This means that a small bakery in France paying to use the service to take croissant orders will be picking up the tab for OpenAI.”

The probe now covers the entire European Economic Area after Italy’s separate investigation was folded in. The case fits a broader pattern: Brussels has spent years building regulatory infrastructure to constrain how large platforms leverage their dominance, and AI integration is the latest frontier.

Sources