Italy Challenges Meta’s AI Strategy on WhatsApp as Antitrust Risks Intensify

Key Takeaways

• Italy Targets Meta over WhatsApp AI Rules: The Italian Competition Authority has expanded its probe into Meta and opened a procedure for interim measures over new WhatsApp Business Solution Terms affecting AI chatbots.
• New Terms Block Rival AI Chatbots: From 15 October 2025, new providers of general-purpose AI chatbots are barred from using WhatsApp, with existing providers facing exclusion from 15 January 2026.
• Possible Abuse of Dominance Under EU Law: Regulators are assessing whether Meta’s conduct amounts to an abuse of a dominant position under Article 102 TFEU by denying competitors access to WhatsApp’s vast user base.
• Risk of Lock-In and Data Advantage: The Authority warns that exclusive integration of Meta AI into WhatsApp, combined with user inertia and AI training on WhatsApp interactions, could create long-term lock-in and an unmatchable data advantage.
• Interim Measures on the Table: Because harm to competition could become irreversible before the main case ends in 2026, the Authority is considering urgent measures to suspend the new terms and curb further expansion of Meta AI’s prominence in WhatsApp.

Deep Dive

Italy’s competition regulator is tightening the screws on Meta, warning that the company’s latest changes to WhatsApp could choke off competition in the fast-moving AI chatbot market just as it begins to take shape.

The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) has opened a fast-track procedure that could impose interim restrictions on Meta’s conduct while a broader antitrust investigation continues. The concern is that Meta has woven its Meta AI assistant more deeply into WhatsApp, and at the same time, rewritten the rules for everyone else.

Beginning 15 October 2025, Meta’s new WhatsApp Business Solution Terms block outside developers from using WhatsApp to offer general-purpose AI chatbots. Companies already offering such services have a short grace period, and their access will be cut off on 15 January 2026. For any provider hoping to enter the market after October? The door is already shut.

Regulators say the effect is obvious and dangerous. WhatsApp holds a towering position in digital communication: over 2 billion global users, including more than 37 million Italians, well over half the country’s population. If WhatsApp becomes a closed garden where only Meta’s own AI can exist, the rest of the industry is locked out of one of the most important launchpads for consumer-facing AI.

“Once consumers settle into a single assistant and their data fuels that system’s personalized responses, switching becomes far less likely,” the Authority warned. Every question asked and answered by Meta AI strengthens Meta’s lead, a feedback loop competitors can’t replicate if they’re barred from the same access.

The AGCM argues this may violate Article 102 TFEU, the EU’s rule against abusing market dominance, and cites risks of lasting harm to innovation. The generative AI market is still early in Europe, but already worth billions, and regulators fear the next phase of its development shouldn’t be shaped by a single gatekeeper.

Meanwhile, Meta’s own AI presence inside WhatsApp keeps expanding. New interface tweaks, like a “Ask Meta AI” option when forwarding messages and deeper placement in search, mean the assistant is never more than a tap away. Rivals, who helped introduce chatbots to WhatsApp in the first place, now risk being erased from view entirely.

Because of the speed at which these dynamics could harden (user habits, data advantages, and developer lock-out) the Authority is moving now, before its full investigation concludes. The interim proceedings require Meta to respond quickly, with deadlines for written submissions and hearing requests already set. Regulators expect a decision on temporary measures long before the case wraps at the end of 2026.

For now, Meta keeps building. But Italy has made clear that it may hit pause if it believes the AI race is on the verge of becoming a one-horse contest.

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