European Commission Orders Meta to Grant AI Rivals Free WhatsApp Access

The European Commission ordered Meta Platforms on June 9, 2026, to restore free access to the WhatsApp Business Application Programming Interface (API) for competing artificial intelligence chatbots within five working days. This interim measure, the first of its kind by the Commission in 17 years, requires Meta to reinstate terms that existed before October 2025.

The order follows an antitrust investigation launched in December 2025 after complaints from The Interaction Company, Agentik, and a Spanish rival. These companies alleged that Meta abused its dominant market position by blocking third-party AI assistants while exempting its own Meta AI. Although Meta introduced access fees in March 2026, regulators rejected the move as economically unsustainable for competitors and functionally equivalent to a ban.

Concurrent with the EU action, Italy's competition watchdog, the AGCM, closed its own investigation into Meta on June 8, as the European Commission expanded its probe to include Italian territory. The EU measures will remain in effect until the investigation concludes or until June 2029.

Meta Platforms condemned the decision as regulatory overreach and announced its intention to appeal. If found in violation of EU antitrust rules, the company faces potential fines of up to 10 percent of its total annual global turnover.