The European Union has launched a formal investigation into Meta over antitrust concerns with AI restrictions in WhatsApp. The probe aims to “prevent any possible irreparable harm to competition in the AI space” according to the EU, and follows Meta announcing changes to WhatsApp’s terms for businesses in October that will prohibit companies from using the platform’s API to distribute third-party AI chatbots.

“As a result of the new policy, competing AI providers may be blocked from reaching their customers through WhatsApp,” says the European Commission’s announcement. “On the other hand, Meta’s own AI service ‘Meta AI’ would remain accessible to users on the platform.”

The updated WhatsApp policy went into effect on October 15 for AI providers that don’t already have services on the platform, and will apply to existing AI providers on WhatsApp starting January 15th, 2026. OpenAI and Microsoft responded to the policy changes earlier this year by announcing that ChatGPT and Copilot would be removed from the platform.

The investigation will assess whether Meta violated the EU laws that “prohibit the abuse of a dominant position” to make it harder for smaller providers to compete with its own services. There is no deadline for the investigation. If Meta is ruled to have breached the bloc’s antitrust rules, it may face fines up to 10 percent of the company’s global annual revenue, working out at $16.45 billion (per Meta’s 2024 earnings).

“AI markets are booming in Europe and beyond,” European competition commissioner Teresa Ribera said in the announcement. “We must ensure European citizens and businesses can benefit fully from this technological revolution and act to prevent dominant digital incumbents from abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors.”