OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot were removed from WhatsApp access earlier this year after platform rule changes tightened what outside AI tools can do inside business accounts. Those restrictions sharply narrowed third-party bot activity, leaving most limited to basic support functions rather than broader assistant roles, disruption.
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- WhatsApp’s tighter business account rules pushed major AI bots like ChatGPT and Copilot off the platform, sharply limiting third-party assistant features.
- EU competition regulators warn the change could unfairly reshape the AI chatbot market if left unchecked during a long investigation.
- Early regulatory opinion suggests WhatsApp’s dominance plus AI access limits may raise antitrust concerns.
- Brussels is considering temporary measures that could force Meta to reopen WhatsApp access to outside AI tools while the probe continues.
- Meta rejects the claims, saying WhatsApp’s API is not critical enough to harm AI competition across the wider ecosystem.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot were removed from WhatsApp access earlier this year after platform rule changes tightened what outside AI tools can do inside business accounts. Those restrictions sharply narrowed third-party bot activity, leaving most limited to basic support functions rather than broader assistant roles, disruption.
European regulators are no longer waiting quietly. Competition authorities in the EU have signalled early concern that the rule shift could distort a fast-moving AI landscape, arguing that slow enforcement could permanently tilt the field. Officials say digital AI ecosystems evolve too quickly to allow potentially harmful limitations to remain in place while a full probe runs its course, urgency.
A preliminary regulatory view has now formed around two pillars. First, WhatsApp is seen as holding a commanding position among messaging platforms. Second, blocking or heavily constraining outside AI assistants on such a platform could amount to misuse of market power under EU competition standards, assessment.
Because of that early stance, Brussels is weighing temporary corrective steps that could require Meta to restore access for independent AI chatbots on WhatsApp while the broader case continues. Such interim action would function as a safeguard rather than a final verdict, meaning the company could still ultimately prevail after the complete review finishes, contingency.
Meta disputes the core premise behind the scrutiny. The company argues that regulators are overstating how essential the WhatsApp Business API is as a distribution path for AI chatbot providers, pushing back on the idea that limiting it meaningfully blocks competition across the sector, rebuttal.
Regulators, however, appear unconvinced so far, especially given how major AI assistants lost their WhatsApp presence following the policy rewrite. That outcome is being watched closely as a test of how much control dominant messaging platforms should wield over emerging AI services, scrutiny.