European Commission Accuses Meta of Blocking Third-Party AI Assistants

The European Commission issued a statement of objections to Meta Platforms on February 10, 2026, alleging the company violated antitrust laws by blocking third-party AI assistants from interfacing with users via WhatsApp. Regulators argue that Meta is abusing its dominant position in the European Economic Area consumer messaging market to create an unfair advantage for its own Meta AI service.

The investigation centers on a mid-October update to WhatsApp's Business Solution terms of service, followed by a policy implemented on January 15, 2026. These changes restricted general-purpose AI assistants from operating as standalone services on the platform while allowing Meta AI to remain available. The Commission is now considering interim measures to force Meta to lift the block and prevent what it describes as serious and irreparable harm to the AI assistant market.

Meta Platforms has rejected the findings, asserting that the WhatsApp Business API is not a key distribution channel for chatbots and that users can access AI tools through various other operating systems and websites. While the EU probe covers the European Economic Area, it excludes Italy, where the national competition authority imposed its own interim measures in December. Meta previously faced similar regulatory challenges in Brazil, though it successfully won a court suspension of an injunction there in January.