The European Commission has officially notified Meta of possible interim measures after the company blocked third-party AI assistants from WhatsApp. According to the Commission, this measure could seriously harm competition in the AI assistant market.
The European Commission has sent Meta a Statement of Objections stating that the company may be violating European competition rules. The Commission has been investigating since December whether Meta is excluding competitors of its own AI assistant through policy changes on WhatsApp. According to the Commission, this could lead to lasting damage to the market.
Exclusion of external AI assistants
The trigger was an adjustment to WhatsApp Business terms that Meta announced in October 2025. This change resulted in only Meta’s own AI service being accessible on WhatsApp from January 2026. Other general AI assistants lost the ability to communicate with users via the platform.
According to the Commission, Meta has closed off access to an important distribution channel with this move. Excluding third parties could prevent new providers from entering the market and limit the growth of existing players.
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In its preliminary analysis, the Commission states that Meta holds a dominant position in the market for communication services in the European Economic Area. This position stems primarily from the widespread use of WhatsApp. By denying other companies access, Meta would be abusing that dominant position.
Urgent need
The Commission also sees an urgent need for protective measures. Without intervention, there is a risk that smaller AI assistant providers will be permanently marginalized. Therefore, it is considering interim measures that would require Meta to temporarily reverse its policy while awaiting a final decision.
This is a justified insight from the Commission. Large (American) technology players have historically repeatedly counted on the sluggishness of the European system regarding antitrust enforcement. For instance, Microsoft did not comply with the rules regarding Teams, but only had to decouple the communication solution from its Office suite after it had gained a dominant position.
Sending a Statement of Objections does not yet mean the Commission has made a final decision. Meta now gets the opportunity to respond to the objections and defend itself. Only then will the Commission decide whether the conditions for interim measures are met.
The investigation covers the entire EEA, except for Italy, where the national competition authority already imposed preliminary measures at the end of 2025. That decision does suggest that Meta will likely be found in the wrong this time as well.