WhatsApp ban risk

Meta Platforms risks a temporary European Union ban on the rollout of new policies over how its AI features in WhatsApp, after being hit by the latest probe into Big Tech's alleged dominance on the continent.

Teresa Ribera, the EU's antitrust chief, said Thursday she's weighing so-called interim measures "to ensure that this could not blow up."

She made the comments to reporters in Brussels after signing off on an investigation into suspicions that WhatsApp AI tools may unfairly prevent rival AI providers from offering their business services through WhatsApp.

Under EU rules, competition regulators can order companies to temporarily stop suspect business practices, but these demands can be challenged in the bloc's courts in Luxembourg.

Eventual fines for breaching the EU antitrust rulebook can be as high as 10% of global annual revenue, although they rarely reach that level, especially if alleged wrongdoing is short-lived.

Meta will now be forced to submit solutions to appease regulators' concerns. 

The EU has in recent years ramped up pressure on Silicon Valley firms, seeking to curb potential market abuses as a handful of operators wield a huge amount of power across the digital sector.

Aside from standard antitrust rules, legislation - in the shape of the Digital Markets Act - has established a series of dos and don'ts for the major players in order to curb anti-competitive behavior.

"The claims are baseless," a WhatsApp spokesperson said. "The emergence of AI chatbots on our Business API puts a strain on our systems that they were not designed to support."

"Even still, the AI space is highly competitive and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems."

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Tamlin Bason said the EU's probe "likely targets a quick settlement" and that regulators are likely "prioritising the certainty of established competition law to block Meta's conduct," rather than its much-newer DMA rulebook.  

"By flagging this probe as a ‘priority' ahead of Meta's January implementation date, the EU likely aims to force a relatively quick resolution," Bason wrote in a post after the announcement.

"A settlement would compel Meta to preserve competition in the messaging-based AI ecosystem immediately, bypassing the uncertainty of a multiyear court battle."
More investigations underway

Last month, Italian regulators broadened an investigation into Meta's use of AI tools in WhatsApp over its alleged abuse of a dominant market position in its chatbot services.

The Italian antitrust agency previously said it was working with its EU counterparts on the issue. The Financial Times reported on the EU probe earlier.

The commission said the opening of a formal investigation does not prejudge its outcome.

The EU authority said its own case would exclude Italy to "avoid an overlap" as the nation's competition arm also pushes toward its own temporary curbs on Meta's plans.

"Swift intervention by the commission is of utmost importance," said Marvin von Hagen, CEO and co-founder of The Interaction Company of California, which owns AI assistant Poke.com, a complainant in the cases.

In April, Meta earlier came in for a €200-million (R3.95-billion) fine for allegedly breaching the DMA, and in November 2024 it was ordered to pay €798 million (R15.78 billion) for tying its Facebook Marketplace service to its social network - something regulators said amounted to an abuse of dominance.   

US President Donald Trump has long railed against EU tech and antitrust regulation impeding American companies.

In August, he threatened to impose fresh tariffs and export restrictions on advanced technology and semiconductors in retaliation for other nations' digital services taxes that hit American technology companies.