Italy opens antitrust probe into Meta over WhatsApp AI chatbot exclusion

Italy's competition watchdog initiated precautionary proceedings against Meta Platforms on November 26, 2025, alleging the social media giant abused its dominant position by blocking competing AI chatbot services from accessing WhatsApp's 37 million Italian users.

The Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) expanded an existing investigation that began July 22, 2025, to examine Meta's modification of WhatsApp Business Solution Terms on October 15, 2025. The new contractual conditions prohibit companies providing AI services from accessing WhatsApp if those AI capabilities represent the "primary functionality" offered to users.

According to the authority's November 25 decision, Meta's changes affect two categories of AI chatbot providers differently. Companies without WhatsApp accounts as of October 15, 2025, face immediate exclusion from the platform. Existing providers received a grace period until January 15, 2026, before the restrictions take full effect.

The AGCM identified several AI chatbot services currently operating on WhatsApp that would face removal, including Microsoft's Copilot, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Perplexity, and smaller entrants like Factorìa Elcano's Luzia. Meta launched its own Meta AI service on WhatsApp in March 2025, making it available both within the messaging platform and as a standalone service at meta.ai for Italian and other European Union users.

The authority's analysis found that Meta holds a dominant position in the European market for app-based communication services, where WhatsApp reached more than 2 billion users worldwide in 2025. The regulator considers the exclusion of competing AI chatbot providers a potential violation of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which prohibits abuse of dominant market positions.

"This modification of contractual conditions is susceptible to limiting production, outlets, or technical development in the AI Chatbot services market, to the detriment of consumers," the AGCM stated in its decision document.

The regulatory action comes as the generative AI market in the European Union shows rapid expansion. Market data cited by the authority estimates the sector at approximately $4.4 billion in 2024, growing to $7.3 billion in 2025 and projected to reach $11.7 billion in 2026.

The Italian watchdog expressed concern that Meta's interface modifications amplify competitive distortions. Between the July investigation launch and November proceedings, Meta added an "Ask" button to WhatsApp's search bar and inserted an "Ask Meta AI" option when users forward messages, making the company's AI assistant more prominently integrated across WhatsApp features.

The authority warned that precluding access to WhatsApp's substantial user base during an early development phase of AI chatbot services could permanently damage market competitiveness. The decision highlighted risks of "lock-in effects" where WhatsApp users develop such familiarity with Meta AI that switching to alternative services becomes unlikely, even after potential regulatory intervention.

"The natural inertial stickiness of consumer choices, amplified by AI chatbot services' capacity to provide increasingly personalized feedback, obstructs switching to competing services," the AGCM's analysis stated.

The regulator identified an additional competitive concern regarding training data advantages. Meta AI gains exclusive access to interaction data from WhatsApp's 37 million Italian users, enabling the system to refine responses through machine learning while competitors cannot access equivalent training opportunities. This data asymmetry could create performance gaps that regulatory remedies imposed after investigation completion would struggle to eliminate.

The AGCM noted that all companies wishing to use WhatsApp as a distribution channel for AI chatbot services must accept the platform's general terms and conditions. Meta's contractual modification therefore functions as a comprehensive barrier to market access rather than a selective restriction.

The regulatory filing emphasized that Meta originally developed WhatsApp's infrastructure "not only for the purposes of its own activities, but also with a view to allowing third-party undertakings to use that infrastructure." The authority considers denying access to this platform particularly problematic given its design for business integrations.

Italy's intervention represents part of broader European regulatory scrutiny of Meta's AI practices. The company faces ongoing privacy challenges over using European user data for AI training without explicit consent, and refused to sign the European Commission's voluntary AI Code of Practice in July 2025, citing legal uncertainties.

The timing coincides with Meta's announcement that it will begin using AI chat interaction data for advertising targetingstarting December 16, 2025, affecting more than 1 billion monthly Meta AI users globally. WhatsApp conversations remain separate from this data collection unless users explicitly add WhatsApp accounts to Meta's Accounts Center.

The AGCM's precautionary proceeding operates on an accelerated timeline. Meta has seven days from notification to submit written responses and request a hearing before the regulatory board. The authority can impose interim measures suspending the WhatsApp Business Solution Terms modifications while the full investigation proceeds through December 31, 2026.

For the substantive investigation, Meta received a 60-day window to exercise its right to be heard, with hearing requests due at least 15 days before that deadline expires.

The case contrasts with Meta's recent antitrust success in the United States, where a federal judge dismissed the Federal Trade Commission's monopoly claims on November 18, 2025. U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg ruled that Meta does not hold monopoly power in social media markets, finding that TikTok and YouTube compete directly with Facebook and Instagram.

However, European regulators continue pursuing Meta across multiple enforcement fronts. The company appealed the European Commission's Digital Markets Act compliance decision in July 2025 after regulators ruled that offering users a choice between ad-free subscriptions and free ad-supported services fails to meet regulatory requirements.

The Italian authority's decision methodology followed established European Court of Justice precedent from February 25, 2025, which found that refusal to grant infrastructure access constitutes abuse when it excludes, hinders, or delays development of potentially competing products or services, thereby limiting merit-based competition and harming consumers.

Dr. Gabriella Romano serves as the responsible official for the precautionary measures proceeding. The authority designated Saverio Valentino as rapporteur for the expanded investigation. Both the precautionary decision and the expanded investigation scope received approval from AGCM President Roberto Rustichelli and Secretary General Guido Stazi.

Meta has not publicly responded to the Italian authority's actions as of the November 26, 2025, announcement. The company's European operations function primarily through Meta Platforms Ireland Limited and WhatsApp Ireland Limited, both named as respondents in the proceeding alongside Meta Platforms Inc. and Facebook Italy S.r.l.

The regulatory challenge adds to Meta's complex European landscape as the company navigates Digital Markets Act gatekeeper obligations, privacy enforcement actions, and proposed GDPR amendments that could ease AI development restrictions.

Timeline

• July 22, 2025: AGCM initiates investigation into Meta AI integration on WhatsApp
• October 15, 2025: Meta modifies WhatsApp Business Solution Terms, immediately excluding new AI chatbot providers
• November 25, 2025: AGCM expands investigation scope and initiates precautionary proceedings
• November 26, 2025: Authority announces actions publicly
• January 15, 2026: Extended deadline when exclusions affect existing AI chatbot providers on WhatsApp
• December 31, 2026: Investigation must conclude
• Related: Federal court dismisses FTC antitrust case against Meta on November 18, 2025
• Related: Meta challenges Digital Markets Act compliance decision in July 2025
• Related: Commission releases AI Act guidelines and Meta refuses to sign code of practice on July 18, 2025

Summary

Who: Italy's Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato initiated proceedings against Meta Platforms Inc., Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, WhatsApp Ireland Limited, and Facebook Italy S.r.l. The action affects competing AI chatbot providers including Microsoft's Copilot, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Factorìa Elcano's Luzia, along with WhatsApp's 37 million Italian users.

What: The competition authority expanded an existing antitrust investigation and launched precautionary proceedings targeting Meta's October 15, 2025, modification of WhatsApp Business Solution Terms. The new conditions prohibit AI service providers from accessing WhatsApp if AI capabilities constitute their primary functionality. The authority seeks interim measures to suspend these contractual restrictions while investigating whether Meta's conduct violates Article 102 TFEU by abusing its dominant position in app-based communication services.

When: The AGCM announced its decision on November 26, 2025, following a November 25 board meeting. The contractual modifications took immediate effect on October 15, 2025, for new AI chatbot providers, with full implementation scheduled for January 15, 2026, when existing providers must comply. The investigation must conclude by December 31, 2026.

Where: The proceedings affect the European market for app-based communication services and the developing AI chatbot services market. WhatsApp operates with over 2 billion users worldwide and more than 37 million users in Italy specifically. The generative AI market in the European Union was estimated at $4.4 billion in 2024, growing to $7.3 billion in 2025.

Why: The authority determined Meta's exclusion of competing AI chatbot services threatens to limit production, market outlets, and technical development in AI chatbot markets during a critical early growth phase. The regulator expressed concern that Meta AI's exclusive access to WhatsApp's substantial user base could create irreversible competitive advantages through lock-in effects, training data asymmetries, and user habituation that would persist even after potential regulatory remedies. The authority characterized these market distortions as capable of causing "serious and irreparable damage to competition" that warrants urgent precautionary intervention.