The European Union has ordered Meta to restore free access to its WhatsApp platform for competing artificial intelligence chatbots within five working days or face the risk of substantial financial penalties.
The directive follows an investigation launched by the European Commission in December into Meta’s decision to restrict access to AI providers other than Meta AI.
The European Commission, the bloc’s competition regulator, stated that Meta must maintain access for rival AI assistants while the investigation remains ongoing.
“Today, we require Meta to restore access to WhatsApp for competing AI assistants while we investigate whether the restrictions may infringe EU competition rules,” EU antitrust commissioner Teresa Ribera said in a statement.
According to the Commission, the move is intended to prevent “serious and irreparable harm” to competition in the rapidly expanding AI market, adding that Meta’s conduct appears, at first glance, to breach EU competition rules.
The EU had previously warned Meta in February that interim measures could be imposed if it failed to open WhatsApp to rival AI providers. In response, the company introduced an access fee, but Brussels rejected the proposal in April, describing it as inadequate.
European regulators argue that conventional antitrust investigations often take years to conclude, by which time the damage to competition may already have occurred.
The Commission said its objective is to ensure that third-party AI assistants regain access to WhatsApp under the same conditions that existed before Meta’s policy change in October 2025, which effectively blocked competing services.
Brussels also warned that it could impose a fine of up to 10 per cent of Meta’s global turnover from the preceding business year if the company deliberately or negligently fails to comply with the interim measures.
The Commission further stated that the access fee proposed by Meta earlier this year appeared to be, in practical terms, little different from the original restriction.
EU officials stressed the need to protect the emerging market for general-purpose AI assistants and ensure that smaller companies and new entrants have a fair opportunity to compete with established technology firms.
There is currently no deadline for the completion of the investigation.
The latest action is part of a broader series of regulatory disputes between the EU and Meta over competition and digital services rules.
In April, EU regulators concluded that Meta had failed to adequately prevent children under the age of 13 from accessing Facebook and Instagram, potentially breaching the bloc’s digital content regulations.
Regulators are also examining the company’s measures for safeguarding users’ physical and mental wellbeing, as well as concerns surrounding the allegedly addictive design features of Facebook and Instagram.
Meta is separately appealing a €200 million fine imposed by the EU last year under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the bloc’s legislation aimed at curbing anti-competitive practices by major technology companies.
The DMA has faced criticism from both the administration of President Donald Trump and several US technology firms. Apple recently blamed the legislation for delays in the rollout of its AI-enhanced Siri assistant, a claim the European Union has rejected.