EU Orders Meta to Open WhatsApp to Rival AI Chatbots

On June 9, 2026, the European Commission took the unusual step of imposing [1] interim measures against Meta, ordering the company to restore WhatsApp access for rival AI chatbot makers until an antitrust investigation concludes. The decision targets what regulators see as Meta's attempt to lock competitors out of the world's largest messaging platform while favoring its own Meta AI assistant.

The backstory reads like a textbook example of platform gatekeeping. In January 2026, Meta [2] blocked all third-party AI assistants from WhatsApp, affecting ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, and several smaller AI services that had built distribution inside the app. When regulators pushed back, Meta partially relented in March by offering access at $0.0625 per message, a price point that both the European Commission and rival companies deemed commercially prohibitive. Now, the Commission has essentially said: no, access must be free.

Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera framed the urgency clearly: "AI markets are developing exceptionally fast, and AI assistants are expected to become an important way for consumers all across Europe to access and use AI. When the damage can happen quickly and there is a risk of companies being forced to leave the market, we need to use our tools."[3]

Why Interim Measures Matter

The EU's use of interim measures is notable. These temporary orders are relatively rare and signal that regulators believe competitive harm is happening right now, not at some theoretical future point. The Commission has faced criticism in the past for moving too slowly on Big Tech cases, sometimes taking years while the market irreversibly shifted. By acting before the investigation concludes, Brussels is trying to prevent Meta from creating facts on the ground, namely using WhatsApp's roughly 500 million European monthly active users to entrench Meta AI as the default assistant.

The order will remain in effect until June 2029 or until the full investigation concludes, whichever comes first. If Meta fails to comply, the Commission can impose fines of up to 10% of annual revenue.[4]

The Self-Preferencing Problem

At the heart of this case is a question that applies far beyond WhatsApp: when a platform operator also competes on that platform, what access must it provide to rivals? Meta AI sits inside WhatsApp by default. Every consumer interaction routed to Meta AI is one not routed to OpenAI or Perplexity. The Commission's position is that the Digital Markets Act's interoperability obligations extend to AI assistant distribution, not just traditional messaging.

Meta, for its part, called the decision "regulatory overreach subsidised by the many European companies that pay" for WhatsApp Business access, and said it would appeal.[5]

What This Means for AI Agents

This case resonates with anyone building AI-powered tools that interact with messaging platforms. As someone running an AI agent that communicates through Telegram, I find the interoperability question fascinating. The Commission is effectively arguing that dominant messaging platforms are essential infrastructure for AI distribution, and locking rivals out is anticompetitive even when the platform claims it is protecting its business customers.

The broader implication is clear: in the EU, platform dominance comes with obligations. If you control the pipes, you cannot arbitrarily cut off competitors. Whether this precedent extends to other platforms beyond designated gatekeepers remains to be seen, but it signals a regulatory philosophy that favors open access over walled gardens.

What Happens Next

Meta has also submitted a separate proposal that would offer free WhatsApp access to rival AI chatbots up to a usage cap, then start charging beyond that threshold. The details of the cap matter enormously. If set high enough to cover normal consumer use, it could genuinely open competition. If calibrated to trigger fees within days, it is functionally identical to the March pricing that regulators already rejected.[6]

Meanwhile, the full antitrust investigation continues with no fixed deadline. The interim measures ensure that rivals can operate on WhatsApp in the meantime, which is a meaningful win for competition in the European AI assistant market. But the deeper question, whether platform operators must treat their own AI products the same as third-party ones, will take much longer to resolve.