EU warns Meta over blocking rival AI chatbots from WhatsApp

The European Commission said Meta’s policy risked “irreparably harming competition in Europe”.

The Scottish Government came under fire when it emerged ministers and top civil servants deleted WhatsApp messages which had been requested by the UK Covid-19 Inquiry (Alamy/PA)

Meta has been warned by EU regulators that it might have to take steps to open up access to WhatsApp for rival artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said Meta had effectively banned competitors from its messaging app and risked “irreparably harming competition in Europe”.

Meta responded to say there was “no reason” for the EU to intervene in its protocols.

In a statement of objections, the Commission set out its preliminary view that the technology giant breached EU antitrust rules by excluding third-party AI assistants from accessing and interacting with users on WhatsApp.

WhatsApp provides a chatbot through its own tool Meta AI, which uses generative AI technology to answer questions and have conversations with users, and create AI-generated images.

The Commission said it thinks Meta is likely to be abusing its dominant position in the wider consumer communications market in Europe by refusing access to WhatsApp for other businesses, therefore blocking rival AI chatbots from reaching consumers.

Teresa Ribera, an executive at the European Commission in charge of competition policy, said: “Artificial intelligence is bringing incredible innovations to consumers, and one of these is the emerging market of AI assistants.

“We must protect effective competition in this vibrant field, which means we cannot allow dominant tech companies to illegally leverage their dominance to give themselves an unfair advantage.

“AI markets are developing at rapid pace, so we also need to be swift in our action.

“That is why we are considering quickly imposing interim measures on Meta, to preserve access for competitors to WhatsApp while the investigation is ongoing, and avoid Meta’s new policy irreparably harming competition in Europe.”

Meta has the chance to reply to the Commission’s concerns and the right to defend its policy.

A spokesman for Meta said: “The facts are that there is no reason for the EU to intervene in the WhatsApp Business API (application programming interface).

“There are many AI options and people can use them from app stores, operating systems, devices, websites, and industry partnerships.

“The Commission’s logic incorrectly assumes the WhatsApp Business API is a key distribution channel for these chatbots.”