The European Union has rejected Meta’s proposed fix in an ongoing antitrust investigation into how AI chatbots operate on WhatsApp. Notably, the social media behemoth had offered to let rival AI services back on the platform, but only through a paid access model. Regulators argued that charging fees can still limit competition, especially for smaller AI companies. The case focuses on whether the Mark Zuckerberg-led company used its control over WhatsApp to favour its own Meta AI.
The dispute traces back to late 2025, when Meta updated its WhatsApp Business policies in a way that restricted third-party AI chatbot providers from operating freely on the platform. These changes came at a time when the company was rapidly expanding its own AI offerings, embedding Meta AI directly into WhatsApp’s interface. This raised concerns among regulators that the social media giant was leveraging its dominance in messaging to give its in-house AI a structural advantage over competitors.
Importantly, WhatsApp’s massive scale makes this issue critical. With over 2 billion users, it is not just a messaging app but a key platform for digital and AI services. For developers, getting access means reaching millions of users directly, especially in markets like India, Brazil, and Europe, where WhatsApp is widely used every day.
As pressure from regulators increased, Meta introduced a revised framework in early 2026 that would technically reopen the platform to third-party AI services. However, this access came with usage-based fees, effectively turning WhatsApp into a paid distribution channel for AI chatbots. Developers would be required to pay per-message charges for conversations, with rates ranging from about €0.049 to €0.132 per message depending on the country. While Meta argued that such fees were necessary to maintain infrastructure and ensure quality control, the European Commission took the view that this approach simply replaced one barrier with another.
EU regulators stressed that even indirect restrictions, like high access costs, can distort competition. Smaller AI startups, which often operate with limited funding, could struggle to afford sustained access under a pay-per-use model. Officials have signaled that fair access must not only exist in principle but also be economically viable for a wide range of competitors.
The Commission is now considering interim measures that could compel Meta to restore access to WhatsApp on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms. Such measures are relatively rare and indicate that regulators believe there is a real risk of lasting damage to competition if the situation is not addressed quickly. Under the DMA, companies like Meta are required to ensure interoperability and avoid practices that unfairly advantage their own services. And if Meta is found to have violated these rules, it could face fines of up to 10% of its global annual revenue, potentially amounting to tens of billions of dollars.
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Ashutosh is a Senior Writer at The Tech Portal, largely reporting on new tech, and intersection of technology and business. Ashutosh’s career spans across nearly a decade of technology writing across multiple platforms and languages.
