It took only a few months for Brussels to draw its emergency weapon.
On June 9, the European Commission ordered Meta to reopen access to the WhatsApp Business API to competing AI assistants. And to do so for free, while the ongoing investigation runs its course. A landmark decision that places the emerging market for AI agents at the heart of European regulatory battles.
Notably, the procedure hinges on traditional antitrust law rather than the Digital Markets Act. A longer path, but the Commission deliberately chooses it here for its urgency. A first in the AI sector.
It all began last autumn. Until January 2026, Meta allowed third-party AI assistants to interact with WhatsApp users, just as it does for other companies such as online travel agencies or customer service providers.
ChatGPT, Perplexity, and even smaller players like Luzia or Poke.com could be invoked directly from the app. But in October 2024, Meta announced that from January 15, only its own assistant, Meta AI, would remain accessible on the platform.
Three companies filed complaints (1). The Commission opened a formal investigation in December, then served Meta with its charges in early March. Under pressure, it reopened access to rivals but on a paid basis. A concession that was more cosmetic than substantive.
A lock set in October, a door forced open in June
In a speech with a direct tone, Teresa Ribera, its executive vice president responsible for competition, dismantles Meta’s maneuver at the outset.
The access fee charged to competitors is “so high that, in practice, it is not economically sustainable for them.” Access thus remains “in practice blocked for all AI assistants, except of course Meta’s own assistant.”
The Commission itself recognizes that provisional measures are a rare tool. The last time it resorted to them was in 2019.
But Teresa Ribera fully embraces the choice: “When harm can occur quickly and there is a risk that companies may be forced to exit the market, we must use our tools.”
The lesson of past digital markets is on everyone’s mind. “The fact that competition authorities did not act quickly enough may have allowed dominant players to become rooted to the point that markets are no longer open to genuine competition,” she concedes.
The injunction is claimed to be straightforward. “We are simply asking Meta to return to what it was doing itself up to January of this year. Nothing more.”
The order remains in force until the investigation concludes, at the latest in June 2029. Meta has five business days to comply.
6,700 AI startups in Europe
Behind the legal battle, Brussels is defending a particular vision of the European tech ecosystem.
Teresa Ribera states that Europe counts around 6,700 AI startups. “The provisional measures apply to all players, including American actors such as the two California plaintiffs in this case. Our rules are not meant to be protectionist. They merely safeguard European consumers’ interests and ensure a level playing field.”
Meta is not done yet. “The European Commission has decided that OpenAI and some of the world’s largest companies could use the paid WhatsApp Business product for free,” boomed a spokesperson. “This is regulatory intervention subsidized by numerous European companies, which pay. We will appeal.”
Meta also notes that its competitors have other AI access channels, such as app stores, operating systems, websites, or industrial partnerships.
(1) The Interaction Company (American developer of Poke.com), the French startup Agentik, and a Spanish competitor
