EU to probe Meta’s AI integration in WhatsApp, competition chief says

BRUSSELS — The European Commission will open an investigation into Meta’s integration of artificial intelligence into its WhatsApp chat app, competition chief Teresa Ribera said.

“I can confirm you that today we will adopt a decision on Meta AI and we will open a procedure around this,” Ribera told a hearing of the European Parliament’s economic affairs committee on Thursday. She added: “But we have not signed it yet.”

The commissioner was replying to a question by Renew lawmaker Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, who’d asked her to comment on a press report on the matter.

The Financial Times reported that the EU was set to launch an antitrust probe into Meta over the use of AI in WhatsApp. A similar probe was opened earlier this year by the Italian competition authority.

The European Commission confirmed earlier this week that it was looking into complaints that Meta had put up barriers that effectively excluded other AI assistants from the Facebook parent’s popular messaging app.