WhatsApp Business and AI: What the EU Antitrust Authority Challenges Meta
WhatsApp Business is at the center of one of the most significant antitrust investigations for the future of conversational AI in Europe. The use of WhatsApp Business to promote Meta's AI assistant raises a critical issue between European digital regulation and the power of US Big Tech.
The European Commission has served Meta Platforms Inc. with a Statement of Objections as part of a formal antitrust investigation. At the heart of the case is the new policy regarding access to the messaging platform for artificial intelligence assistants, which Brussels believes could violate EU competition rules and constitute an abuse of a dominant position.
The Commission is also considering immediate precautionary measures (interim measures). These technical orders could require Meta to allow access to third-party chatbots and AI assistants on WhatsApp before the final conclusion of the proceedings, to avoid serious and irreversible damage to competition in the emerging AI assistant market.
WhatsApp Business as a “gateway” for conversational AI
For the EU Antitrust, WhatsApp Business It represents a potential essential gateway for AI assistants to access large user bases. Conversational AI markets are growing rapidly, and messaging apps are everyday environments with very high interaction frequency, ideal for deploying chatbots and conversational agents.
In this scenario, the ability to integrate an AI assistant directly into WhatsApp could make the difference between an experimental project and a service capable of rapidly reaching a critical mass of users. If the channel remains closed or limited to competitors, Meta could consolidate a dominant position in the early stages of the market, making it difficult for new, innovative players to enter.
The Commission suspects that Meta's policy of limiting access to its Business API to only "non-core" AI services could constitute an abuse of a dominant position. If confirmed, this conduct would violate the EU prohibition on abuse of a dominant position set forth in Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which protects the effective contestability of digital markets.
WhatsApp Business: Precautionary Measures and Possible Penalties for Meta
One of the most innovative aspects of the case concerns the possible use of early precautionary measures. The European Commission, given the dynamic nature of digital and AI markets, believes that intervention only after the investigation is concluded could come too late, when barriers to entry have already solidified.
The interim measures would therefore serve to prevent anti-competitive effects that are difficult to reverse. They could force Meta to open access to third-party AI assistant providers via WhatsApp already during the investigation phase, ensuring greater openness and interoperability at a key moment in the market's structure.
If the Commission finds a violation of antitrust rules, the fines could reach up to 101 TP3T of the Meta group's annual global turnover. For a tech giant of this size, this would translate into very significant fines, with tangible effects on the way dominant platforms manage their digital ecosystems.
Meta's defense and the issue of alternatives for accessing AI
Meta denied the accusations through its spokespeople, arguing that users already have access to numerous AI options through other channels. According to the company, app stores, operating systems, web browsers, and cloud services offer a wide variety of ways to reach chatbots and intelligent assistants, reducing WhatsApp's role as an exclusive channel.
Meta also claims that the WhatsApp Business API does not constitute an essential distribution infrastructure for AI chatbots and therefore there is no single "gatekeeper" capable of determining the competitive dynamics in the conversational AI market. This defense echoes arguments already seen in previous cases involving other major platforms such as Google, Apple, and Amazon.
The core of the confrontation with the EU Antitrust is not so much the existence of theoretical alternatives, but rather the actual ability of competitors to compete on a scale. Messaging platforms, as also highlighted by numerous studies on the economics of digital platforms (dedicated entry on Wikipedia), are often privileged access points to services, capable of profoundly influencing innovation trajectories.
Formal procedure and EU regulatory framework in the Meta-WhatsApp case
The Commission's formal investigation began on December 4, 2025, with the opening of an investigation to examine the potential anti-competitive impact of Meta's AI policy on WhatsApp and the possible violation of Article 102 TFEU and Article 54 of the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement. The case is therefore framed under traditional European competition law.
The legal basis is not the Digital Markets Act (DMA), but the procedure is part of the broader regulatory ecosystem the EU is building to regulate digital gatekeepers. The DMA defines specific obligations for platforms with structural power, introducing rules on interoperability, non-discrimination, and the openness of digital markets.
While the WhatsApp-AI case is not formally handled under the DMA, the logic is essentially the same. The idea that a dominant platform cannot use control of key infrastructure to favor its own services is central to both the DMA and the Commission's reasoning in this proceeding. For further information on the DMA and gatekeepers, it is also useful to consult the European Commission's official documentation (DG Competition website).
Antitrust, digital geopolitics, and European regulatory sovereignty
The Meta-WhatsApp case also has a strong geopolitical undertone. Some international commentators interpret this escalation as a potential source of regulatory tension between Brussels and Washington, in light of US criticism of European digital policies deemed too detrimental to American Big Tech.
In reality, the EU is asserting its regulatory sovereignty in reshaping the structure of digital markets operating within its borders. The conflict isn't just economic, but concerns technology governance models: on one side, Europe, which favors a preventative and structural approach to competition; on the other, the United States, more oriented toward ex post intervention and greater freedom for platforms to self-regulate.
The risk, however, is that the European stance will be interpreted as a new transatlantic rift. The decisions resulting from the Meta-WhatsApp case could set a significant precedent for the entire European digital economy, impacting AI, conversational services, and, more generally, the relationship between global platforms and public regulators.
WhatsApp Business: Impact on Marketing and Business
WhatsApp Business It's not only at the center of an antitrust case, but it's also a strategic lever for digital marketing, customer care, and conversational automation. As AI assistants' access to WhatsApp is regulated, the competitive balance shifts for companies, brands, and developers relying on chatbots and messaging to engage with customers.
For marketing, the ability to integrate conversational AI on WhatsApp means building acquisition, nurturing, and sales funnels directly within a channel users use every day. Businesses can automate responses, qualify leads, and manage support and post-sales with intelligent workflows, reducing wait times and increasing customer satisfaction.
If the EU can ensure more open and non-discriminatory access to WhatsApp Business, European companies will be able to rely on a more diverse and competitive AI solutions ecosystem. This translates into greater choice among providers, reduced risk of technological lock-in, and the ability to experiment with vertical solutions in specific sectors such as retail, financial services, tourism, or public administration.
For marketing and sales teams, the Meta-WhatsApp case is therefore much more than a legal issue: it is a key step in defining the room for maneuver to build conversational marketing strategies, omnichannel customer experience, and intelligent automation, in line with best practices for data protection and European compliance.
How SendApp Can Help with WhatsApp Business
In this rapidly evolving regulatory context, WhatsApp Business It remains one of the most effective channels for communicating with customers, provided you use compliant, flexible tools that are ready to adapt to new regulations. SendApp was created specifically to help companies and professionals make the most of messaging, AI, and marketing automation in a scalable way.
With SendApp Official you can safely integrate the Official WhatsApp APIs in your applications, CRM, and marketing systems. This allows you to develop chatbots, AI assistants, and automated workflows on WhatsApp in compliance with Meta policies and EU regulations, while ensuring reliability, monitoring, and volume control.
For the operational management of conversations and teams, SendApp Agent It offers a multi-operator console to coordinate sales, support, and customer care efforts on WhatsApp Business. You can assign chats, track performance, integrate AI response scripts, and maintain consistent brand tone of voice.
If your goal is to push advanced automation, SendApp Cloud provides a scalable cloud infrastructure to orchestrate campaigns, workflows, and integrations with other business systems. From lead generation to transactional notifications and automatic reminders, you can build a comprehensive conversational marketing strategy based on WhatsApp Business and AI.
To learn more about all the features of the platform and evaluate the best setup for your business, you can start from the official SendApp website (sendapp.live) and request a dedicated consultation on WhatsApp Business and automation. This way, you can transform a complex regulatory environment into a concrete competitive advantage, building effective, measurable conversational experiences that comply with European regulations.
