April 15, 2026, 4:18 p.mApril 15, 2026, 4:18 p.m
The European Commission is putting further pressure on the WhatsApp group Meta. The background is that, according to the Brussels authorities, Meta only gives its own AI assistant access to the WhatsApp messenger service and, according to preliminary results, is therefore violating competition law.
The meta AI.Image: Shutterstock
The competition authorities are now threatening the group again with interim measures in order to prevent “serious and irreparable damage to the market”. Meta could try to avert this beforehand. In addition, the ongoing investigation into the case has not yet been finally concluded. It remains unclear when the investigation will be completed – there is no legal deadline.
Only “Meta AI” as a helper
The EU Commission has been investigating the case since December 2025. The US company announced in October 2025 that it would effectively exclude competing AI providers from its messenger service – and from the EU perspective has been doing this since mid-January 2026 despite the ongoing investigation.
According to the EU Commission, this approach means that only Meta’s own AI (“Meta AI”) is available to users. The AI chatbot can summarize, translate and create texts and answer questions and also uses current information from the Internet. It works similarly to ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI models. If you want to use the AI, you can start a chat with it in the app.
EU: Announced changes are not enough
At the beginning of February, the Meta authority had already threatened to use coercive measures to restore access to competitors on the AI market. Meta then announced changes at the beginning of March. But these would actually amount to the previous access ban, the EU Commission now writes. The interim measures now announced would remain in force until the commission has completed its investigation and made a final decision on Meta’s behavior, she said.
The EU Commission monitors compliance with competition law in the EU. How exactly she would proceed to give Meta’s competitors access to WhatsApp initially remained unclear.
Meta: Lots of AI options
A Meta spokesman said in February that there was no reason for the EU to intervene. “There are many AI options that can be used across app stores, operating systems, devices, websites and industry partnerships,” the spokesperson argued. The EU Commission incorrectly assumes that the WhatsApp interface is an important sales channel for these chatbots.
EU proceedings are already underway against the Facebook group Meta for violations of European digital laws. The commission announced at the end of October that he was threatened with high fines due to a lack of data transparency and the handling of illegal content on his platforms. (hkl/sda/awp/dpa)