• EU orders Meta to allow rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp within five days.
• This decision follows complaints regarding Meta's blocking of competitors.
• Meta plans to appeal the ruling, claiming it constitutes regulatory overreach.
• The order aims to preserve competition in the evolving AI market.
• Meta could face fines of up to 10% of its global turnover if it fails to comply.

The European Union’s antitrust regulators have mandated that Meta Platforms must allow rival AI chatbots, including OpenAI, free access to its WhatsApp platform within five working days. This decision comes amid an ongoing investigation into whether Meta has abused its dominant market position by blocking access to competing AI services while favoring its own AI assistant, Meta AI, according to Reuters, Le Monde, and India Times.

The European Commission, which serves as the EU's digital watchdog, initiated the probe in December 2025 after receiving complaints from multiple companies, including French AI startup Agentik and the Interaction Company from California. EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera emphasized the urgency of the situation, noting that the AI market is evolving rapidly and access to major messaging platforms like WhatsApp is crucial for fair competition among AI developers, according to Reuters and India Times.

The Commission indicated that Meta's previous policy of charging fees for accessing WhatsApp's services was deemed unsatisfactory, as it continued to stifle competition. Meta had granted rival AI services access to its WhatsApp Business API but only through a new fee structure, which regulators have now rejected in favor of restoring pre-October 2025 access, according to Le Monde and India Times.

In response to the order, Meta has expressed its intention to appeal, arguing that the enforcement of free access for large AI companies highlights a "regulatory overreach" that could undermine the business model of smaller European companies that pay for WhatsApp services. Meta faces potential fines of up to 10% of its global annual turnover if found in non-compliance, which may incentivize adherence to the Commission's directives, according to Reuters and Le Monde.