Coercive measure by the EU: WhatsApp must also allow other assistants in addition to its own AI

Otherwise, she fears “serious and irreparable harm” to him Competition in the growing market for universal AI assistants. There, 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 for AI companies to consumers in Europe, said EU Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera. “With today’s decision, we also preserve the freedom of citizens across Europe to choose which 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 is investigating the case since December 2025. The background is that Meta last October third-party providers blocked access to interfacesthrough which companies connect 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, 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 ban. The decision that has now been made obliges Meta to restore access to the same conditions that applied before October 15, 2025, it said.

Meta faces penalties

If the measures are violated, the company will be threatened Fines of up to ten percent of total sales in the previous financial year. In addition, to enforce the decision, the commission can impose daily penalty payments of up to five percent of the average daily turnover.

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

A Meta spokesman said in February that there was no reason for the EU to intervene. “There are many AI options that can be leveraged across app stores, operating systems, devices, websites and industry partnerships,” the spokesperson argued. The EU Commission incorrectly assumes that the WhatsApp interface is an important sales channel for these chatbots.

Independently of this, EU proceedings are ongoing against the WhatsApp parent company Meta, headed by Mark Zuckerberg Violations of European digital laws. According to preliminary investigation results, Facebook and Instagram do not adequately protect children from the dangers of their offers, as the EU Commission announced at the end of April.

The Brussels internet watchdog requires platforms to enforce the minimum age of 13, which they themselves have set in their terms of use. Otherwise there is a risk of a severe penalty – up to six percent of annual group sales. Daily penalties would also be possible to get the US company to give in.