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The European Commission (“Commission”) has sent a Statement of Objections to Meta, setting out its preliminary view that the company may have breached EU competition rules by excluding third-party artificial intelligence (“AI”) assistants from accessing and interacting with users on WhatsApp. The Commission considers that this conduct risks preventing competitors from entering or expanding in the rapidly growing market for general-purpose AI assistants.
The Commission preliminarily considers that Meta may hold a dominant position in the EEA market for consumer communication applications, particularly through WhatsApp, and may be abusing this position by denying access to competing businesses. WhatsApp is viewed as a critical gateway enabling AI assistants to reach consumers. Due to the risk of serious and irreparable harm to competition —including higher barriers to entry and the potential marginalisation of smaller competitors— the Commission is considering imposing interim measures pending the outcome of the investigation.
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