Italy orders Meta to suspend WhatsApp AI chatbot ban

The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM), which acts as the country’s antitrust regulator, announced on Wednesday that it has ordered Meta to suspend its policy banning rival artificial-intelligence chatbots from WhatsApp. The regulator’s decision stems from an ongoing investigation into whether Meta is abusing its dominant position in the market. In its decision, the AGCM, acting as the authority, stated: “Meta’s conduct appears to constitute an abuse, since it may limit production, market access, or technical developments in the AI Chatbot services market, to the detriment of consumers” The regulator also warned that Meta’s actions may cause serious and irreparable harm to competition in the affected market, undermining contestability, while the investigation continues. The suspension halts the policy’s enforcement while the antitrust investigation is ongoing.

The regulatory action in Italy follows a series of policy shifts and expanding investigations. Meta changed its business API policy in October to ban general-purpose chatbots from being offered on the chat app via the API. In response, the AGCM broadened the scope of an existing investigation in November. The policy change, which is scheduled to go into effect in January, has also drawn scrutiny beyond Italy. The European Commission launched its own investigation into the new policy to determine if it may prevent third-party AI providers from offering their services through WhatsApp in the European Economic Area (EEA).

If enforced, the policy would restrict the availability of AI chatbots from companies such as OpenAI, Perplexity, and Poke on the messaging platform. Meta plans to appeal the decision. The company argued that the emergence of AI chatbots on its Business API put a strain on its systems that they were not designed to support. According to Meta, the Italian authority is incorrectly assuming WhatsApp is somehow a de facto app store. Meta maintained that the actual route to market for AI companies consists of the app stores themselves, their websites, and industry partnerships, rather than the WhatsApp Business Platform.

Why it matters

This clash highlights the tension between platform owners and AI developers, as regulators in the European Economic Area (EEA) scrutinize whether tech giants are using their infrastructure to limit competition from third-party AI services.