A PYMNTS Company

Italian Regulator Probes Meta Over Alleged AI Monopoly Tactics on WhatsApp

By  |  July 30, 2025

The Italian competition authority has launched a formal investigation into Meta, alleging that the tech conglomerate is using its dominant market position to unfairly promote its artificial intelligence tools through WhatsApp, according to EuroNews.

    Get the Full Story

    Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.

    yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today.

    By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

    The Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM), Italy’s antitrust watchdog, is scrutinizing Meta’s decision to integrate its AI chatbot directly into WhatsApp starting March 2025. The regulator believes this move could amount to coercing users into adopting Meta’s AI services, which may breach the European Union’s competition laws.

    “Starting from March 2025, Meta, which holds a dominant position in the app-based communication services market, decided to pre-install its artificial intelligence service on the WhatsApp app,” AGCM stated. The authority further argued that such integration might lead to users being “imposed” into using Meta’s AI assistant tools, rather than choosing from a range of competing services.

    As part of the investigation, Italian officials conducted inspections at Meta’s offices in Italy on Tuesday, per EuroNews. The inquiry focuses on whether Meta’s bundling of its AI technology with WhatsApp represents an abuse of power by effectively eliminating consumer choice and stifling fair competition.

    Related: Meta to Suspend Political and Social Issue Ads in EU Ahead of New Regulations

    Meta, which owns several of the world’s most widely used platforms—including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger—has faced growing regulatory scrutiny across Europe. According to EuroNews, concerns about how Meta deploys its AI technology have also been raised by other EU regulators. In particular, Ireland’s data protection authority is examining the company’s handling of user data in the context of its AI development.

    Meta’s AI tools were only launched in the European market earlier this year after a delay tied to what the company described as “regulatory uncertainty.” Since then, EU authorities have taken a closer look. The European Commission began its own probe in March to determine whether Meta’s AI systems fall under the regulations established by the Digital Services Act (DSA), which governs digital platforms’ responsibilities across the bloc.

    Source: EuroNews