Italy Orders Meta to Halt Its Ban on Rival AI Chatbots in WhatsApp
Italy's competition authority has ordered Meta to suspend its policy banning rival AI chatbots on WhatsApp, citing abuse of market dominance. The move signals growing antitrust scrutiny for Meta's AI strategy across Europe.
The war for AI's future is being fought inside your chat app. Italy has just ordered Meta to tear down the walls it was building around WhatsApp. On December 24, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) commanded the tech giant to suspend its policy that bans rival AI chatbots from operating on the popular messaging platform.
The order comes amid an ongoing investigation by the AGCM into whether Meta is abusing its dominant market position by integrating its own Meta AI chatbot within WhatsApp. Italian regulators believe Meta's actions could significantly harm competition.
The Policy at the Heart of the Dispute
The issue stems from a change Meta made to its WhatsApp Business API policy in October. Scheduled to take effect in January 2026, the new rule would prohibit general-purpose AI chatbots, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT or Anthropic's Claude, from being offered via the API. The policy carves out an exception for businesses using AI for their own customer service needs.
Meta has argued that its API wasn't designed to be a distribution platform for third-party chatbots and that users have many other avenues to access these services.
"Serious and Irreparable Harm": Italy's Antitrust Warning
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. ...Meta’s conduct may cause serious and irreparable harm to competition in the affected market.
The AGCM had broadened its investigation into Meta in November to include the API policy. The authority stated the suspension order was a necessary, urgent measure to prevent damage to competition while its probe continues.
A Widening Front as Europe Takes Notice
The pressure on Meta isn't confined to Italy. The European Commission also launched its own investigation into the new policy this month, raising concerns it may “prevent third-party AI providers from offering their services through WhatsApp in the European Economic Area (‘EEA’).” This signals that the battle over fair competition in the AI ecosystem is quickly becoming a pan-European issue.
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