According to media reports, the European Union will launch a new antitrust investigation into Meta, focusing on WhatsApp’s integration of AI functions, and is expected to announce it in the next few days. Italian regulators have spearheaded an investigation, accusing Meta of integrating AI into WhatsApp without user consent. The investigation was launched under traditional antitrust law rather than the Digital Markets Act.
The European Union is about to launch a new round of antitrust investigation into Meta, focusing on the company's integration of AI functions in WhatsApp. This is the EU's latest regulatory action against technology giants.
On December 4, according to media reports, two sources revealed that the European Commission is preparing to launch an investigation into the way Meta integrated the "Meta AI" system into its popular instant messaging service earlier this year. It is expected to announce the launch of the investigation in the next few days, but the time may still be adjusted.
According to reports, this new investigation will be carried out based on traditional antitrust laws, rather than the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The latter is the EU's signature legislation aimed at curbing the dominance of large online platforms, but has recently become the focus of criticism from the Trump administration.
The timing of this investigation is sensitive, as frictions between the United States and Europe are intensifying on technology regulation issues. The Trump administration has publicly opposed EU regulation of U.S. technology giants, while the EU has stressed that it will continue to enforce digital regulatory rules.
Controversy over AI function launch and integration
Meta launched AI features in WhatsApp in European countries in March this year, after the introduction was delayed due to the region's "complex regulatory system." The feature is designed as an AI assistant within the app's chat function that can suggest prompts and provide additional text to fill out messages.
Italy's antitrust agency has reportedly taken the lead in launching an investigation into Meta, accusing the company of using its dominant position to integrate AI into WhatsApp without users' consent.
Last month, Italian regulators expanded their investigation to include new terms and new AI features for the WhatsApp Business messaging service, arguing that these changes "may restrict production, market access or technological development in the AI chatbot service market."
A Meta spokesperson referred to previous statements regarding the Italian investigation, calling the accusations "baseless." Meta said:
"The recent update will not impact the tens of thousands of businesses that provide support and send relevant updates to customers, nor will it impact businesses that use their AI assistant of choice to chat with customers."
The EU continues to strengthen digital regulation
BaBa said that this new investigation against Meta is a continuation of a series of recent EU regulatory actions. Previously, the EU had launched an investigation under the Digital Markets Act into the way Google parent company Alphabet ranks news organizations in search results, and also investigated the cloud computing services of Amazon and Microsoft.
The European Commission stressed that it will continue to enforce its digital regulatory rules despite the risk of possible retaliation from Washington and continued criticism from the United States. Zuckerberg has been lobbying the Trump administration against what he sees as burdensome EU regulations.
After meeting with Zuckerberg and his lobbying team, US President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance both publicly opposed regulatory rules for US technology giants. Last month, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said during a visit to Brussels that the EU must relax its technology regulations.
According to reports, the EU action comes as Meta has just won an antitrust lawsuit in the United States. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission previously tried to force the $1.6 trillion company to divest its acquisitions of WhatsApp and photo app Instagram.
The judge in the case ruled that Meta did not hold monopoly power because it competed with services such as Google YouTube. The ruling contrasts sharply with the EU's regulatory stance and highlights the growing divide between the two sides of the Atlantic over technology regulation.