The European Commission ordered Meta Platforms to restore free access to the WhatsApp for Business API for rival AI assistant providers, saying the company’s policy change risked serious and permanent harm to competition in the AI market.
Meta said it would appeal
The Commission said Meta must reinstate the terms and conditions that were in place before Oct. 15, 2025, when the company banned third-party general-purpose AI assistants from the WhatsApp for Business API while keeping its own Meta AI service available. Meta must comply within five working days, and the interim measure will remain in effect until the Commission concludes its antitrust investigation or until June 2029, whichever comes first. Three companies — including The Interaction Company of California, the developer behind the Poke.com AI assistant, French AI startup Agentik, and an unnamed Spanish competitor — filed complaints that led the Commission to launch its antitrust investigation in Dec. 2025, according to Reuters.
After issuing its initial charges in Feb. 2026, the Commission followed up with a second round of charges in April, prompted by Meta’s decision to charge rivals for API access rather than restore the original terms. Regulators said the fee was in practice equivalent to the previous ban. At a press conference, E.U.