• Meta will allow rival AI chatbots to use WhatsApp for a year in Europe
• The European Commission is reviewing how these changes might affect competition

Meta announced that it will grant AI competitors access to WhatsApp for one year across Europe, in a move aimed at avoiding potential interim regulatory actions following complaints from excluded companies.

Last month, the European Commission, responsible for enforcing competition rules in the EU, warned it might take urgent measures to prevent what it called potential serious harm to competitors after Meta had blocked their access to WhatsApp.

Meta informed the Commission that it will allow rival AI chatbots to operate on WhatsApp for a fee, after previously restricting access from January 15, keeping only its own Meta AI assistant on the platform.

A company spokesperson said Meta will support multi-purpose AI chatbots via the WhatsApp Business API in Europe over the next twelve months, in response to regulatory processes led by the European Commission, noting that this gives regulators sufficient time to complete their investigations without immediate intervention.

The Commission said it is assessing how Meta’s changes may affect its review of interim measures as well as its broader antitrust investigation.

Meta previously said that the growing use of chatbots on its platforms puts increasing strain on its infrastructure, emphasizing that AI developers have other channels to reach users, such as app stores, search engines, email services, and operating systems.

Earlier, Meta allowed some rival chatbots access to WhatsApp in Italy in January, following an order from the Italian antitrust authority, which is still investigating the case.