Italy’s competition authority (AGCM) has confirmed to Competition Today that it has initiated proceedings to adopt interim measures against Meta, targeting the integration of Meta AI into WhatsApp and the company’s recent contractual changes affecting rival AI providers.
The development marks an escalation from AGCM’s position on 26 November, when, as first reported, the authority said it was considering precautionary action in response to Meta’s new WhatsApp Business Solution Terms and the deep embedding of Meta AI within the messaging app.
According to AGCM, the interim-measures proceeding will assess — and is expected to impose — orders to:
- Suspend Meta’s new WhatsApp terms, which ban AI chatbot and assistant providers from accessing the platform when AI is the primary service offered.
- Prevent any further integration or interface changes that enhance the visibility, accessibility, or functional prominence of Meta AI within WhatsApp at the expense of competing AI services.
The authority considers the conduct potentially exclusionary under Article 102 TFEU, citing concerns that Meta’s restrictions could foreclose access to WhatsApp’s more than 37 million Italian users, lock in consumers through design and interface changes, and give Meta AI an unmatchable training advantage through exclusive access to WhatsApp interactions.
The interim-measures procedure, opened under Article 14-bis of Italy’s competition law, is aimed at preventing what AGCM described as “serious and irreparable harm” to competition in the fast-developing market for AI chatbots. The underlying investigation — initiated in July — examines whether Meta unlawfully leveraged its dominance in messaging to favour its own AI service.
AGCM declined to comment on anticipated timelines but, according to its bulletin, it must conclude the investigation by 31 December 2026.
Source: AGCM’s press office and https://www.agcm.it/pubblicazioni/dettaglio?id=0d2f618c-bd5d-4359-8ea2-ad4e8054606b
