EU to launch antitrust probe into Meta over use of AI in WhatsApp

Brussels is planning a new antitrust investigation into Meta over the roll-out of artificial intelligence (AI) features within WhatsApp, in the EU’s latest challenge to Big Tech.

The European Commission was set to open the probe into how the Silicon Valley company integrated its “Meta AI” system within its popular messaging service earlier this year, said two officials speaking to the Financial Times.

The commission, the EU’s top antitrust enforcer, was set to announce the investigation in the coming days, though the timing could yet shift, the people said.

The new probe will fall under traditional antitrust laws rather than the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the EU’s landmark legislation designed to tackle the dominance of the big online platforms but which has been the particular focus of attacks by the Trump administration.

Meta rolled out its AI feature into WhatsApp in March across European countries, after initially delaying the introduction due to the region’s “complex regulatory system”.

The feature is designed to be an AI assistant within the app’s chat function that can suggest prompts and additional text to fill out messages.

The Italian antitrust authorities are already investigating Meta over allegations that it used its dominant position to integrate AI into WhatsApp without user consent.

Last month, the Italian authorities broadened the probe into the new terms of its WhatsApp Business messaging services and the new AI features, arguing the changes “may limit production, market access or technical developments in the AI Chatbot services market”.

A Meta spokesperson declined to comment on the upcoming EU probe and referred to an earlier statement on the Italian investigation, which it rejected as “unfounded”.

“The recent update does not affect the tens of thousands of businesses who provide customer support and send relevant updates, or the businesses using the AI assistant of their choice to chat with their customers,” Meta said.

The upcoming European probe follows the launch of recent DMA investigations into Google’s parent company Alphabet over its ranking of news outlets in search results and Amazon and Microsoft over their cloud computing services.

The commission has stressed it would keep enforcing its digital regulation despite the risk of potential retaliation by Washington and regular criticism from the US.

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg has lobbied the Trump administration against what the company argues are burdensome EU regulations that will leave the bloc trailing the US and China in the AI race.

Both President Donald Trump and his vice-president JD Vance have spoken out against rules targeting American Big Tech in the wake of meetings with Mr Zuckerberg and his lobbyists. Last month, the US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said the EU must loosen its tech regulations during a visit to Brussels.

The commission’s move would also come weeks after Meta won an antitrust case in the US brought by the Federal Trade Commission that sought to force the $1.6 trillion company to unwind its acquisitions of WhatsApp and photo app Instagram.

The judge in the US case ruled that the company did not hold monopoly power, as it competed with services such as Google’s YouTube and Bytedance’s TikTok.

The commission declined to comment. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025