Italy Watchdog Orders Meta to Suspend Exclusion of Rival AI Chatbots From WhatsApp
By Adria Calatayud
The Italian Competition Authority said it ordered WhatsApp owner Meta Platforms to suspend a policy that excludes rival artificial-intelligence chatbots from the messaging platform.
The authority, known as AGCM, said Wednesday that the decision stems from an investigation, which remains under way, into the integration of Meta's own AI service into WhatsApp. The AGCM said that Meta's conduct might harm competition, and that its order seeks to preserve access to WhatsApp for the tech company's AI competitors while the probe continues.
Meta didn't respond to a request for comment. The company previously said it was cooperating with the authority on the investigation and that the WhatsApp application programming interface was never designed to be used for AI chatbots.
The AGCM in July opened an investigation to assess whether AI features Meta rolled out on WhatsApp amounted to an abuse of a dominant position. It broadened the scope of the probe in November to include a change in WhatsApp's business terms excluding general purpose AI chatbots from the platform, and said the company's new rules could call for interim measures.
The authority said Wednesday that the conditions for adopting interim measures had been met.
"Meta's conduct appears to constitute an abuse, since it may limit production, market access or technical developments in the AI chatbot services market, to the detriment of consumers," the AGCM said.
The Italian regulator said it was coordinating with European Union antitrust officials on the issue.
Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 24, 2025 03:55 ET (08:55 GMT)
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