The European Commission has mandated that Meta reinstate free access to WhatsApp for competing general-purpose AI assistants, maintaining this access throughout the duration of the Commission’s antitrust investigation. This directive aims to safeguard competition in the burgeoning market and mitigate any serious and irreparable harm that may arise from Meta’s current conduct, which appears to violate EU competition regulations.
In December 2025, the Commission initiated an antitrust investigation focusing on Meta’s decision to restrict access to WhatsApp for AI providers, excluding only Meta AI. Following this, in February 2026, the Commission issued a Statement of Objections, suggesting that interim measures might be necessary to prevent significant market detriment resulting from Meta’s policy changes. In April 2026, a supplementary Statement of Objections was published, articulating the Commission’s intent to compel Meta to restore access for third-party AI assistants to WhatsApp.
“Today, we require Meta to restore access to WhatsApp for competing AI assistants while we investigate whether the restrictions may infringe EU competition rules. In rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted. This is why these interim measures will remain in place for the duration of the investigation, in order to prevent harm that would be almost impossible to repair. These interim measures will safeguard competition in the growing market for AI assistants, by preserving a key entry point to reach consumers in Europe – WhatsApp – and allowing AI companies to innovate, scale up and reach their full potential. With today’s decision, we also preserve choice for citizens across Europe on the AI assistants they want to use with WhatsApp, without that decision being made for them,” said Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition.
The interim measures decision
The recent decision determines that interim measures are essential to avert serious and irreparable harm to competition within the expanding market for general-purpose AI assistants.
Several key findings support this conclusion:
Based on initial assessments, Meta holds a dominant position in the EEA-wide market for consumer communication applications through WhatsApp, a status it has maintained since at least January 2023.
Meta has been using this dominant position to prevent competing general-purpose AI assistants from accessing the WhatsApp for Business Application Programming Interface (API). On 15 October, 2025, Meta implemented a policy prohibiting third-party general-purpose AI assistants from utilising the WhatsApp for Business API, effectively restricting access to only its own AI assistant, Meta AI.
The Commission has determined that this action constitutes a refusal to grant access to an infrastructure that was previously available to third parties. Following a subsequent revision of this policy on 4 March 2026, Meta did allow third-party general-purpose AI assistants back onto WhatsApp; however, it introduced a fee that appears, at first glance, to replicate the previous access ban.
There is an immediate need to mitigate the risk of substantial damage to the competitive landscape in the burgeoning market for general-purpose AI assistants. This policy alteration by Meta poses a significant threat to competition at a pivotal time for market development, where smaller entities and new entrants are poised to challenge established players.
Accordingly, the current decision mandates that Meta reinstate access for third-party general-purpose AI assistants to the WhatsApp for Business API under the same terms and conditions that were in effect before 15 October 2025, when this access was provided at no charge to all AI assistants. Meta is required to uphold these conditions until the Commission arrives at a final determination on this matter. This measure is crucial to ensuring the effectiveness of the Commission’s competition law enforcement and any subsequent ruling on the legality of Meta’s actions. Compliance with these measures must be achieved within five working days. The substantive investigation into all relevant aspects of the case remains ongoing.
