EU threatens temporary measures to stop Meta blocking AI rivals from WhatsApp

BRUSSELS: EU competition regulators have threatened to stop Meta Platforms from blocking artificial intelligence rivals from its WhatsApp messaging service while it investigates suspected abuse of a dominant position by the U.S. tech giant.

The European Commission said on Monday that it has sent a statement of objections, or charges, to Meta over violation of the bloc’s rules and intends to impose interim measures to prevent serious and irreparable harm to rivals, mirroring moves by Italy’s competition watchdog in December.

“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,” EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement.

“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.”

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Meta said there was no reason for the EU to intervene.

“There are many AI options and people can use them from app stores, operating systems, devices, websites and industry partnerships,” a Meta spokesperson said in an email.

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

Meta implemented its policy on January 15, allowing only its Meta AI assistant on WhatsApp.

The Commission’s decision on whether to impose interim measures will depend on Meta’s reply and rights of defence, the watchdog said.

The EU investigation underscores the bloc’s determination to enforce its antitrust rules despite U.S. criticism of European action against big U.S. technology companies. A Brazilian court last month suspended an interim measure by the country’s antitrust agency against Meta on the same issue.