Italy has ordered Meta to suspend its policy that bans companies from using WhatsApp’s business tools to offer their own AI chatbots on the popular chat app. The Italian Competition Authority made this ruling on Wednesday, stating it had found sufficient cause in its ongoing investigation. The authority is examining whether Meta is abusing its dominant market position to favor its own Meta AI chatbot within WhatsApp.
The Authority wrote that Meta’s conduct appears to constitute an abuse, as it may limit production, market access, or technical developments in the AI chatbot services market to the detriment of consumers. It also stated that, while the investigation continues, Meta’s actions may cause serious and irreparable harm to competition by undermining market contestability.
The Italian authority had broadened an existing investigation into Meta in November. This followed the company’s October change to its business API policy, which banned general-purpose chatbots from being offered on WhatsApp via that interface.
Meta has argued that its API is not designed to be a platform for distributing chatbots and that people have many avenues beyond WhatsApp to use AI bots from other companies. The policy change, set to take effect in January, would affect the availability of AI chatbots from providers like OpenAI, Perplexity, and Poke on the app.
It is important to note that the policy does not affect businesses using AI to serve customers on WhatsApp. For example, a retailer using an AI-powered customer service bot would not be barred. The prohibition specifically targets standalone AI chatbots like ChatGPT or Claude from being distributed via the API.
The European Commission also launched an investigation into the new policy this month. It raised concerns that the rule may prevent third-party AI providers from offering their services through WhatsApp in the European Economic Area. Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.