Meta Platforms Inc. (META) is learning that building AI into the world's most popular messaging app comes with regulatory strings attached. Italy's competition watchdog just ordered the company to suspend certain WhatsApp terms that could effectively shut out rival AI chatbots, and Meta isn't happy about it.
What Italy Is Worried About
On Wednesday, Italy's competition authority (AGCM) told Meta to immediately halt contractual terms tied to WhatsApp that regulators believe could prevent competing AI chatbots from integrating with the platform. The concern? That Meta is using WhatsApp's massive reach to give its own AI tools an unfair advantage while blocking everyone else.
The AGCM argues that Meta's approach threatens to restrict market access, stifle innovation, and limit consumer choice in what's becoming a red-hot market for AI chatbot services. According to regulators, the updated terms for WhatsApp's business platform essentially lock competitors out, potentially slowing down technical development across the entire sector.
This isn't a new investigation. Italy first opened its probe into Meta back in July, focusing on WhatsApp's market dominance. By November, regulators had expanded the inquiry to include those revised contractual conditions affecting how AI chatbots can work with the platform.
Meta Fires Back
Meta isn't taking this quietly. The company called Italy's decision "fundamentally flawed" and said it plans to appeal. A spokesperson explained that the explosive growth of AI chatbots has put serious strain on WhatsApp's infrastructure, which wasn't originally built to handle these kinds of services. In other words, Meta's argument is that it's dealing with practical engineering challenges, not trying to crush competition.
Europe's Big Tech Crackdown Continues
Italy's action is just the latest chapter in Europe's increasingly aggressive stance toward American tech giants. European regulators have consistently taken a harder line than their U.S. counterparts when it comes to antitrust enforcement.
Back in April, the EU hit Meta and Apple Inc. (AAPL) with nearly $800 million in fines for violating the bloc's new antitrust rules. Earlier this month, the European Commission launched an antitrust investigation into Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOG) Google over concerns that the company is using publishers' and creators' content to train its AI models without proper authorization.
In September, the EU slapped Alphabet with a $3.5 billion antitrust fine, a penalty that President Donald Trump criticized as an attack on U.S. companies. More recently, Vice President JD Vance raised concerns over reported EU plans to fine Elon Musk's X, accusing European regulators of censorship and unfairly targeting American businesses.
The pattern is clear: as AI becomes central to these platforms' strategies, European regulators are watching closely to make sure dominant players don't use their existing market power to lock competitors out of the next generation of technology. For Meta, that means its WhatsApp AI ambitions are now under the microscope, and the company will need to convince regulators that it's playing fair.