Meta's WhatsApp AI policy in EU antitrust crosshairs

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BRUSSELS, Dec 4 : EU antitrust regulators opened on Thursday an investigation into Meta Platforms' new policy regarding AI providers' access to its messaging service WhatsApp, saying this may prevent rivals from offering their services in Europe.

The European Commission said the policy, which will apply from January next year, may block competing AI providers from reaching their customers through WhatsApp while Meta's own AI service Meta AI would remain accessible to users on the platform.

"We must ensure European citizens and businesses can benefit fully of this technological revolution and act to prevent dominant digital incumbents from abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors," EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement.

"This is why we are investigating if Meta's new policy might be illegal under competition rules, and whether we should act quickly to prevent any possible irreparable harm to competition in the AI space," she said.

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