BRUSSELS — The European Fee has opened an antitrust investigation into whether or not Meta is unfairly shutting different synthetic intelligence suppliers out of its WhatsApp chat app.
The Fee will probe whether or not Meta’s new coverage on AI entry to WhatsApp might breach EU guidelines on abuse of dominance, the EU government mentioned in a press launch on Thursday.
The investigation focuses on a not too long ago launched coverage by Meta that prohibits AI suppliers from utilizing a instrument permitting companies to speak with clients by way of WhatsApp, the ‘WhatsApp Enterprise Answer,’ when AI is the first service supplied.
The Fee worries that Meta’s not too long ago launched coverage might block rival AI suppliers from reaching their clients by way of WhatsApp, while its personal AI service would stay accessible to platform customers.
“The Fee is anxious that such new coverage might stop third celebration AI suppliers from providing their providers by way of WhatsApp within the European Financial Space,” the press launch mentioned.
The Italian competitors company opened an identical probe earlier this yr, which is about to proceed in parallel to the Fee. “The formal investigation will cowl the EEA aside from Italy. That is to keep away from an overlap with the Italian Competitors Authority’s ongoing proceedings for the potential imposition of interim measures regarding Meta’s conduct,” the Fee mentioned.
“AI markets are booming in Europe and past. We should guarantee European residents and companies can profit absolutely of this technological revolution and act to forestall dominant digital incumbents from abusing their energy to crowd out modern rivals,” competitors chief Teresa Ribera mentioned in a press release.
A WhatsApp spokesperson dismissed the Fee’s claims as “baseless,” saying that the emergence of AI chatbots on their Enterprise API was placing pressure on their techniques that they weren’t designed to assist. They added that the AI house is “extremely aggressive.”
The Monetary Instances reported earlier that the EU would launch the antitrust probe. The Fee had confirmed to POLITICO earlier this week that it was trying into complaints that Meta had put up obstacles that successfully excluded different AI assistants from WhatsApp.
This story has been up to date.