EU coercive measure: Whatsapp must allow other AI providers

Otherwise, it fears "serious and irreparable damage" to competition in the growing market for universal AI assistants. Smaller providers and new market participants currently have the opportunity to challenge established large companies. At the same time, the authority is continuing to investigate whether the group is violating EU competition law with the restrictions.

Whatsapp is an important access point to consumers in Europe for AI companies, said EU Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera. "With today's decision, we are also preserving the freedom of choice of citizens across Europe regarding the AI assistants they want to use with Whatsapp, without this decision being made for them." The EU Commission monitors compliance with competition law in the EU.

Other providers were excluded

The EU Commission has been investigating the case since December 2025. The background to this is that last October, Meta blocked third-party providers from accessing interfaces that companies use to link their services with Whatsapp. According to the EU Commission, this approach means that only Meta's own AI ("Meta AI") is available to users.

After the Commission had already threatened coercive measures once, Meta formally reopened access in March, but introduced a fee. The competition authorities in Brussels see this as a de facto continuation of the access block. The decision that has now been taken obliges Meta to restore access under the same conditions that applied before October 15, 2025, they said.

Meta faces penalties

In the event of a breach of the measures, the Group faces fines of up to ten percent of its total turnover in the previous financial year. In addition, the Commission can impose daily fines of up to five percent of the average daily turnover to enforce the decision.

The investigation into the case has not yet been finally concluded. There is no legal deadline by which investigations must be completed.

A Meta spokesperson said in February that there was no reason for the EU to intervene. "There are many AI options that can be used across app stores, operating systems, devices, websites and industry partnerships," the spokesperson argued. The EU Commission is wrongly assuming that the Whatsapp interface is an important distribution channel for these chatbots.

Further proceedings

Independently of this, the EU is conducting proceedings against Whatsapp's parent company Meta, headed by Mark Zuckerberg, for violations of European digital laws. According to preliminary investigation results, Facebook and Instagram are not adequately protecting children from the dangers of their services, as the EU Commission announced at the end of April.

The Brussels internet watchdogs are demanding that the platforms enforce the minimum age of 13, which they themselves have stipulated in their terms of use. Failure to do so could result in a hefty fine - up to six percent of annual group turnover. Daily penalties would also be possible to persuade the US company to give in.