EU threatens Meta over WhatsApp AI chatbot blockade

The EU’s move against Meta over WhatsApp’s AI rules is a shot across the bow for any dominant messaging platform that tries to wall off rival AI assistants. At stake isn’t just chatbot diversity; it’s who controls access to billions of daily conversations that could serve as high‑value inference and distribution channels for general‑purpose AI agents. If WhatsApp is forced to reopen to competing models, smaller labs and enterprise AI vendors gain a rare, regulated on‑ramp into Meta’s user base instead of being pushed into less trafficked channels.

For the race to AGI this is about power over deployment, not raw model capability. As large assistants move from browser tabs into messaging and workflow surfaces, platform lock‑in becomes a de facto gate on which models scale fastest in the real world. The Commission is signalling that self‑preferencing your own assistant while evicting rivals will be treated like a classic abuse of dominance. That could slow Meta’s ability to turn WhatsApp into a tightly controlled AGI surface, while boosting open or multi‑provider ecosystems where enterprises can swap in different models. In the long run, constraining distribution monopolies may lead to a more competitive, diverse model landscape, even if it adds short‑term regulatory friction.