Rival AI assistants regained free access to WhatsApp for Business after the European Commission issued an interim order while it investigates alleged antitrust misconduct by Meta. The Commission announced the measure on June 9, 2026 and told Meta Platforms to restore third-party chatbot access on the same terms that applied before October 2025. Meta has five working days to comply or face fines of up to 10 percent of global annual turnover if it's later found to have breached EU competition rules. The order will remain in place for the duration of the probe, and at the latest until June 2029, while Meta says it will appeal.

Third-party chatbots can reconnect to WhatsApp for Business on the pre-October 2025 terms because the European Commission intervened to prevent what it called an economically exclusionary move by Meta.

Why Brussels intervened

The Commission opened a formal antitrust investigation in December 2025 after complaints from multiple AI developers who said Meta had effectively shut competitors out of a key consumer entry point. Regulators say Meta barred third-party AI assistants from WhatsApp in October 2025, while exempting its own assistant, Meta AI. In March 2026 Meta reintroduced third-party connections under a paid model, a fee structure the Commission judged would make market entry unsustainable.

Charges were filed against Meta in February 2026, and additional charges followed in April after the company began charging for API access. The interim measure announced on June 9, 2026 invokes emergency powers the Commission rarely uses. It aims to prevent, in the Commission's words, "serious and irreparable damage to competition" in the growing market for general-purpose AI assistants.

European Commission antitrust chief Teresa Ribera argued the remedy was necessary to safeguard competition, saying AI systems are expected to become an important way for consumers all across Europe to access and use AI. The Commission also said the fee Meta introduced was, at first sight, equivalent in practice to the earlier access ban because it would have made entry unsustainable for rivals.

The order requires Meta to restore access to the WhatsApp for Business API under the same terms and conditions that applied before the October 2025 restrictions, and it set a short compliance deadline.

Mastheads

Meta must reinstate rival chatbots on those pre-October terms within five working days, the Commission said, or face fines reaching up to 10 percent of global annual turnover if a subsequent finding shows a breach of EU competition rules.

For WhatsApp users in Europe the practical change is straightforward: non-Meta chatbot services can reconnect to the messaging platform under the restored API terms and conditions. That restores consumers' ability to interact with third-party assistants through WhatsApp, subject to whatever technical rules and limits governed the API before the October restrictions.

Meta criticised the decision and said it would appeal. The company characterised the interim measure as regulatory overreach and said the Commission had effectively decided that "OpenAI and some of the largest companies in the world can use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free," adding that "this is regulatory overreach subsidised by the many European companies that pay."

Meta also argued alternative distribution channels exist, pointing to app stores, operating systems, devices, websites and partnerships. But regulators concluded WhatsApp's reach and likely dominance on messaging gave Meta a unique gatekeeping role for AI assistants on the platform, and that the paid-for model would have recreated exclusionary effects even without an outright technical ban.

The Commission said it was invoking an interim remedy because the potential harm couldn't be repaired by a final decision. The order will stay in force while the broader investigation continues, and at the latest until June 2029. This probe itself has no fixed deadline, the Commission added.

The penalty for flouting the interim measure is severe on paper. The Commission warned it could impose the maximum statutory fine if Meta intentionally or negligently violates the order. This five-working-day compliance window is therefore the immediate deadline that could decide whether rivals regain reliable access without prolonged disruption.

Beyond the legal standoff, the decision is a vote of confidence in regulators' willingness to police distribution gates in AI. The Commission framed the case as about market structure and consumer access, not only platform policy. That framing gives rivals a breathing space to operate on WhatsApp again while the larger antitrust questions are litigated.

Meta's appeal is certain to push the dispute into a longer courtroom phase. But unless the company secures a suspension from a court, the interim order requires restoration of the prior API terms within the Commission's short timeline.

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Meta says it will appeal, but unless it secures a court suspension the Commission's five-working-day deadline stands and rivals will be restored to WhatsApp on the pre-October 2025 terms. The interim measure may remain in force until June 2029 while the broader antitrust probe proceeds.

This article was created with AI assistance.