The European Union has ordered Meta to reopen WhatsApp to rival AI assistants free of charge. The decision comes as the European Commission continues an antitrust investigation into whether Meta abused its dominance by restricting competitorsâ access to WhatsApp while promoting its own Meta AI service. Regulators have issued an emergency âinterim measureâ arguing that waiting for a final verdict could cause irreversible damage to competition in the rapidly evolving AI assistant market.
Meta has been given 5 days to restore access under conditions similar to those that existed before October 2025, and the order could remain in force until June 2029 or until the investigation concludes.
The dispute centers on WhatsAppâs Business API, the infrastructure that allows companies and software providers to communicate with users through the messaging platform. WhatsApp is one of the worldâs largest communication services, with more than 2 billion monthly users globally and a particularly dominant position across Europe, Latin America, India and parts of Africa. Therefore, in the Commissionâs view, control over WhatsApp could provide a major competitive advantage in the race to become the default AI assistant for consumers and businesses.
The controversy began after Meta changed its WhatsApp Business rules. A policy introduced in January 2026 effectively allowed only Meta AI to operate as a general-purpose AI assistant on WhatsApp, preventing competing services like ChatGPT-like assistants from offering similar functionality through the platform. Complaints were subsequently filed by several AI developers, including California-based The Interaction Company, creator of Poke.com, French startup Agentik, and a Spanish AI firm. The European Commission launched a formal investigation in December 2025, issued preliminary antitrust charges in February 2026, and expanded the case in April after concluding that Metaâs proposed remedies did not adequately address competition concerns.
Meta attempted multiple compromises before the latest ruling. In March, the company proposed allowing rival AI assistants back onto WhatsApp, but only through a paid access model. The pricing ranged from roughly âŹ0.049 to âŹ0.132 per non-template message depending on the country. Since AI conversations can involve dozens or even hundreds of messages, competitors argued that the costs would quickly become unsustainable. Meta later offered temporary free access and then a capped free-access system under which companies would begin paying after reaching certain usage thresholds.
However, EU regulators ultimately rejected these proposals, concluding that the fees could still prevent meaningful competition and effectively preserve Metaâs advantage. Brussels believes that if Meta can reserve WhatsApp primarily for its own AI products, competing assistants may struggle to gain users regardless of their quality and innovation. Importantly, if the social media behemoth is ultimately found to have violated EU antitrust rules, it could face fines of up to 10% of its annual global revenue.
Meanwhile, Meta has strongly opposed the order and plans to appeal. The company argues that regulators are effectively forcing it to provide valuable infrastructure for free and that the decision may benefit large foreign AI companies like OpenAI more than European startups. Meta also contends that WhatsApp Business customers who currently pay for services could end up indirectly subsidizing rival AI providers.
The Tech Portal is published by Blue Box Media Private Limited. Our investors have no influence over our reporting. Read our full Ownership and Funding Disclosure â
Ashutosh is a Senior Writer at The Tech Portal, largely reporting on new tech, and intersection of technology and business. Ashutoshâs career spans across nearly a decade of technology writing across multiple platforms and languages.
