Italy’s antitrust authority broadens its investigation into Meta over alleged abuse of dominant position through WhatsApp AI integration.
MILAN: Italy’s antitrust authority has expanded its investigation into Meta Platforms over alleged abuse of its dominant market position through artificial intelligence tools on WhatsApp.
The regulator, known as AGCM, said the expanded probe examines whether new WhatsApp Business Solution terms and Meta AI integration could restrict competition in the AI chatbot services market.
These new terms were introduced on October 15 alongside the integration of Meta AI interaction tools into WhatsApp.
The authority stated these changes could potentially limit output, market access, or technical development within the AI chatbot services sector.
Meta was not immediately available for comment on the expanded investigation.
AGCM confirmed it could implement interim measures regarding the WhatsApp business solutions terms and Meta AI feature integration.
The Italian regulator initially launched this investigation in July 2024.
At that time, the watchdog alleged Meta may have violated European Union competition rules by integrating its Meta AI assistant into WhatsApp without obtaining user consent.
