The Antitrust puts a brake on Meta and its AI on WhatsApp. The Competition and Market Authority has in fact imposed a precautionary measure against the tech giant, contesting a possible abuse of dominant position linked to the integration of Meta AI in the messaging app most used in Italy.
The investigation, launched in July 2025, concerns the way in which Meta inserted its chatbot within WhatsApp, giving it privileged visibility compared to competing services. In November the procedure was expanded, also including the new contractual clauses of the WhatsApp Business Solution Termswhich entered into force on 15 October and are intended to become fully operational by January 2026.
A huge WhatsApp flaw has been discovered which put 3.5 billion phone numbers (and 2 billion profile photos) at risk
According to the Antitrust, these conditions risk cutting competing artificial intelligence chatbots off the platform, effectively limiting competition. A choice which, again according to the Authority, could slow down the technological development of the sector and damage consumers, seriously and potentially irreversibly altering the balance of the market.
For this reason the immediate suspension of the contested clausesso as to also guarantee other AI services access to WhatsApp. The Authority also made it known that it is in close coordination with the European Commission, to address the case in a shared manner at EU level.
Meta’s reply was not long in coming. The company defines the decision as “baseless” and announces an appeal. According to the group, the Antitrust would start from the wrong assumption, equating WhatsApp to an app store. Meta argues that the real market access channels for AI companies remain digital stores, websites and commercial partnerships, not WhatsApp Business APIs.
A clash that opens a new chapter in the debate on the power of big tech, competition and control of AI, with WhatsApp increasingly at the center of a game that goes far beyond simple messaging.
