Italy’s competition authority, the AGCM, has instructed Meta to pause its rule that prevents companies from utilizing WhatsApp’s business tools to deploy AI chatbots on the platform. This order comes amid an ongoing investigation revealing potential abuse of Meta’s market dominance, which could hinder competition and technological advancements in the AI chatbot sector.
The contested rule, implemented in October, restricts the distribution of general-purpose AI chatbots through WhatsApp’s business API, although it does not affect businesses using AI for customer support. This limitation primarily impacts standalone AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude. Meta plans to appeal the AGCM’s decision, labeling it as fundamentally flawed, while the European Commission is also investigating the policy’s potential negative impact on third-party AI providers in the European market.
