Meta Opens WhatsApp to Rival AI Chatbots in Europe — but Only for a Limited Time

Meta is opening the door, at least temporarily, to rival AI chatbots on WhatsApp in Europe. 

The company said it will allow competing AI assistants to access its messaging platform via the WhatsApp Business API for the next 12 months. This move aims to ease the mounting pressure from European antitrust regulators. 

The policy change follows complaints from AI companies that Meta blocked their chatbots while prompting its Meta AI assistant on WhatsApp. By allowing third-party bots back onto the platform, Meta hopes to avoid immediate regulatory action while giving EU officials time to complete a broader antitrust investigation.

Meta responds to EU antitrust pressure

According to Reuters, Meta will support “general-purpose AI chatbots” on WhatsApp in Europe for the next year through its Business API. The change comes after the European Commission signaled it could impose interim measures against the company following complaints from AI providers that were shut out of the messaging platform. 

“For the next 12 months, we’ll support general-purpose AI chatbots using ​the WhatsApp Business API in Europe in response to the European Commission’s regulatory process,” a ​Meta spokesperson said.

“We believe that this removes the need for any immediate intervention as it gives the European Commission the time it needs to conclude its investigation,” the spokesperson added. 

The Commission said that it is reviewing how Meta’s policy shift may affect both its interim measures investigation and its broader antitrust case. 

Meta has previously barred general-purpose AI assistants from WhatsApp, beginning Jan. 15, while allowing only its own Meta AI chatbot on the platform.

API pricing could limit adoption

Even with the new access policy, Meta plans to charge AI providers for each message sent through the WhatsApp Business API. 

TechCrunch reported that fees will range from €0.0490 to €0.1323 per “non-template message,” depending on the country. Conversations with AI assistants typically involve dozens of messages, which could make the bill costly for third-party service providers. 

The pricing model has already drawn criticism from companies that filed complaints with regulators. 

“What Meta presents as good-faith compliance is in reality the opposite,” Marvin von Hagen, CEO of The Interaction Company of California and developer of the Poke AI assistant, told Reuters. 

The company is now introducing vexatious pricing ​for AI providers that makes it just as impossible to operate ​on WhatsApp ⁠as the outright ban did,” von Hagen added. 

The restrictions specifically affect general-purpose AI assistants such as ChatGPT-style tools, rather than businesses using AI-powered customer service bots within WhatsApp. 

WhatsApp’s scale raises competition concerns

The dispute between Meta and rival chatbots highlights the growing tension between platform owners and AI developers seeking access to large digital ecosystems.

Yahoo Finance emphasized that WhatsApp’s reach in Europe is a key factor in the antitrust investigation. WhatsApp has more than 45 million users in the region, placing it in the European Union’s “Very Large Online Platform” (VLOP) category under the Digital Services Act, and subjecting it to stricter regulations. 

Regulators in Italy and Brazil have also examined Meta’s restrictions on its chatbot. Reuters highlighted that earlier this year, Meta allowed rival chatbots on WhatsApp in Italy after an order from the country’s antitrust authority. 

Meta has previously argued that AI chatbots can strain its systems in ways that its business API wasn’t built to support. “The AI space is highly competitive, and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems,” the company explained to TechCrunch. 

For now, the company’s 12-month access window gives EU regulators time to determine whether the policy change adequately addresses competition concerns or requires further action.

For more context, see our coverage of the EU targeting Meta over WhatsApp AI rules in a new antitrust probe.

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