META To Challenge EU Order Requiring Free WhatsApp Access For Rival AI Firms

European Union regulators have given Meta five working days to implement the interim measures while the competition probe continues.

• The European Commission says the action is necessary to prevent irreversible damage in the rapidly evolving AI assistant market.
• Regulators allege Meta restricted competitors’ use of the WhatsApp Business API while maintaining access for its own AI offerings.
• Meta could face penalties of up to 10% of its global annual revenue if found to have breached EU antitrust rules.

Meta Platforms Inc. (META) said it plans to challenge a European Union (EU) order requiring the company to give rival AI firms free and unrestricted access to WhatsApp. Criticizing the order, Meta said that it unfairly benefits competitors.

“The European Commission has decided that OpenAI and some of the largest companies in the world can use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free,” a Meta spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

“This is regulatory overreach subsidised by the many European companies that pay. We will appeal,” the spokesperson added, according to Reuters. 

Why The EU Intervened

The European Commission said the interim measure is needed to prevent potential harm to competition in the AI chatbot market while it investigates whether Meta unfairly restricted rivals’ access to WhatsApp.

“Today, we require Meta to restore access to WhatsApp for competing AI assistants while we investigate whether the restrictions may infringe EU competition rules,” EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement. She added that the measures will remain in place for the duration of the investigation to prevent damage that could be difficult to reverse.

Meta must comply with these measures within five working days, the European Commission said. 

What META Is Accused Of

According to regulators, Meta blocked rival AI services from accessing the WhatsApp Business API in October last year while continuing to allow access for its own Meta AI assistant. The API enables businesses to connect their systems to WhatsApp, reported Reuters. Meta later restored access for competitors in March, but only through a paid model.

If regulators ultimately determine that Meta violated EU antitrust rules, the company could face fines of up to 10% of its global annual revenue. 

META Stock: What Stocktwits Retail Sentiment Says

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around META was ‘neutral,’ while message volume was ‘high.’

The watcher count for META rose by 0.2% over the past month, while message volume surged by 1429% in the same period.

The META stock has fallen 16% in the past 12 months. 

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