As US and EU authorities investigate allegations that the US tech giant is abusing its dominant market position, Italian regulators today ordered Meta to make its WhatsApp messaging platform accessible to competing AI chatbots.
According to AFP, Meta has incorporated Meta AI into all of its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, which cater to billions of users worldwide.
Italy’s competition watchdog stated that Meta AI’s rivals “completely exclude Meta AI’s competitors from the WhatsApp platform in the AI Chatbot services market” under revised terms that the company announced in October and would take effect on January 15.
The European Commission launched an antitrust investigation earlier this month to find out if Meta’s implementation of AI elements in WhatsApp violates the bloc’s competition laws.
A generative AI chatbot that can communicate with users is called Meta AI.
These AI chatbots can replace browsers because they give people a new method to look for and access information and services.
WhatsApp may be able to outperform competing AI chatbots if it locks its more than three billion subscribers into Meta AI.
After reviewing the briefs submitted as part of the investigation, Italy’s competition regulator, which launched its probe in July, stated that “Meta’s conduct appears to constitute an abuse, since it may limit production, market access, or technical developments in the AI Chatbot services market, to the detriment of consumers.”
While its inquiry is ongoing, it issued an interim order for Meta to suspend the rules and for competing AI chatbots to use WhatsApp.
It further stated that “Meta’s conduct may cause serious and irreparable harm to competition in the affected market,” which is why the interim order is required.
The European Commission and the Italian regulator will work together “to ensure that Meta’s conduct is addressed in the most effective manner,” according to the Italian regulator.
WhatsApp referred to the accusations that its new conditions hampered competition as “baseless” when the EU antitrust investigation was revealed earlier this month.
The bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which governs content, already exposes Meta to the possibility of severe fines.
In one DSA case, Meta is accused of not giving academics enough access to public data, while another focuses on claims that Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms lack easy-to-use tools for reporting unlawful content or contesting content-moderation rulings.
Due to concerns that Facebook and Instagram are not doing enough to prevent minors from becoming addicted to their platforms, EU regulators are also looking into these companies.
A 200 million euro fine issued this year under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act competition regulation for its strategy requiring users to select between a free, ad-supported service and an ad-free subscription has been contested separately by Meta.
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