Italy tells Meta to suspend its policy that bans rival AI chatbots from WhatsApp

Meta, the famous company behind Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, seems to be the talk of the town once again. Several months ago, the Italian Competition and Market Authority (AGCM) launched an investigation into the company. During this investigation, in November, the authority closed ranks on the company following changes to its API policy, thereby prohibiting the offering of generic chatbots on WhatsApp via the API.

According to the AGCM, Meta's behaviour constitutes abuse, as it limits production, market access or technical developments in the AI chatbot services market. The company's response, however, emphasised that the API was not designed to be a platform for the distribution of chatbots and that users always have other options available to them besides WhatsApp.

In addition, the company appears to have come under the scrutiny of the European Commission, which, a few days into 2026, launched an investigation into the new policy in question, as it “could prevent third-party AI providers from offering their services via WhatsApp in the European Economic Area (EEA)”.