According to Reuters, the Italian antimonopoly agency indicated on Wednesday that an investigation had been initiated against Meta, accusing the company of forcibly integrating its Meta AI assistant into the Immediate Communication Service WhatsaPP without the consent of the user, which could violate European Union competition rules and harm its competitors, suspected of abusing their dominant position in the market.
Meta responded that it was working with regulators in Rome and that its AI services ultimately benefited users. “Whats App provides millions of Italians with the option of using AI where they already know, trust and understand it, free of charge,” an e-mail statement by a speaker.
The regulator described its actions as “in close cooperation with the relevant sectors of the European Commission”. It noted that since March 2025 Meta AI, which provides chat robotic responses and virtual enablers, has become part of the WhatsApp interface and is included in the search column of the application. The regulators consider that such integration may unfairly lead users to Meta ‘ s AI services, which may harm competitors and lock users on the platform.
“Meta seems to be able to introduce its user base into the new market by matching Meta AI with WhatsApp, but this is not based on competitive advantage, but rather on `forced’ users to accept the availability of two different services, which may undermine competitive services”, the regulator indicated.
Companies that abuse a dominant position of market power in violation of EU competition rules may be fined up to 10 per cent of their global turnover. The agency indicated that its officials, assisted by the Italian Tax Police Antimonopoly Unit, had conducted an investigation into the offices of the Italian subsidiary of Meta.
