Italy tells Meta to suspend its policy that bans rival AI chatbots from WhatsApp

The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) has ordered Meta to immediately suspend its policy that prohibits companies from using WhatsApp's business tools to offer rival AI chatbots on the platform. The AGCM found that this conduct appears to be an abuse of Meta's dominant market position, potentially limiting competition and causing serious, irreparable harm to the market while the investigation is ongoing. The policy change, which was set to take effect in January, specifically targeted general-purpose chatbots like those from OpenAI or Perplexity when distributed via the API, though AI used for direct customer service by businesses is exempt. This Italian action follows a similar investigation launched by the European Commission into the same policy.

(Source：TechCrunch)