LONDON (AP) — WhatsApp faces an antitrust investigation in the European Union, where regulators declared Thursday that they’re viewing into the messaging service’s artificial ininformigence policy.
The European Commission declared it opened the formal investigation becaapply of concerns about WhatsApp’s relocate to limit access for third-party AI providers.
WhatsApp, owned by Facebook parent Meta Platforms, rolled out its AI chatbot feature for European Union applyrs in March after delays.
The Commission, which is the bloc’s executive arm, declared a recent policy update could mean that rival AI companies are blocked from offering their AI assistants on the platform, while Meta’s chatbot service remains accessible to applyrs. Regulators are scrutinizing new terms and conditions for business customers, who can apply AI assistants to communicate with customers over WhatsApp.
Teresa Ribera, the commission’s vice president overseeing competition affairs, declared the bloc wants to prevent Big Tech companies from boxing out innovative competitors.
“This is why we are investigating if Meta’s new policy might be illegal under competition rules, and whether we should act quickly to prevent any possible irreparable harm to competition in the AI space,” she declared in a press statement.
The Commission’s “claims are baseless,” WhatsApp declared in a statement. ”The emergence of AI chatbots on our Business API puts a strain on our systems that they were not designed to support.”
“Even still, the AI space is highly competitive and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems,” the company declared.
The investigation will cover all of the EU’s 27 countries except for Italy, where authorities have already opened their own separate probe.
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