On Wednesday 15 April, the European Commission sent Meta a supplementary statement of objections as part of its investigation into third-party artificial intelligence assistants’ access to WhatsApp (see EUROPE 13804/4).
Faced with a situation that it considers problematic for free competition, the Commission is considering imposing interim measures, one month after having already informed the company that it would take provisional measures against it to “ prevent serious and irreparable damage to the market”.
The Commission now considers that Meta’s new policy, announcing at the beginning of March that it would restore access to its ‘WhatsApp Business Solution’ tool on payment of a fee, is in practice having the same effect as the initial ban announced in October 2025.
In the Commission’s view, this policy could be used to limit access by AI providers competing with WhatsApp and constitute an abuse of a dominant position. In fact, the institution plans to order Meta to restore access to services under the same conditions as before its reform, until a final decision on the merits has been taken.
Meta now has the opportunity to respond to the objections and assert its rights of defence before any formal decision is taken by the Commission.
Since October 2025, Meta has prohibited companies whose main product is an AI from using the ‘WhatsApp Business Solution’ tool, effectively preventing them from offering their services via messaging. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)