Skip Header
Important information: The value of investments can go down as well as up so you may get back less than you invest. Investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. This is a third-party news feed and may not reflect Fidelity’s views.

Meta faces EU action over AI rival block on WhatsApp

(Sharecast News) - The European Union on Monday threatened to impose interim measures on Meta Platforms over the tech giant's blocking of rival artificial intelligence chatbots on its WhatsApp messaging service. Meta changed its policies to prevent competing chatbots from tapping into a tool for businesses to communicate with customers via WhatsApp, the European Commission said, adding that it was acting to prevent serious and irreparable harm to rivals.

"We must protect effective competition ‌in this vibrant field, which means we cannot allow dominant tech companies to illegally leverage their dominance to give ‍themselves an unfair advantage," said EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera.

"That is why we are considering quickly imposing interim measures on Meta, to preserve access for competitors to WhatsApp while the investigation is ongoing and avoid Meta's ‌new policy irreparably harming competition in Europe."

However, Meta said there were "many AI options and people can use them from app stores, operating systems, devices, websites and industry partnerships".

"The commission's logic incorrectly assumes the WhatsApp Business API (software) is a key distribution channel for these chatbots."

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com

Share this article

Related Sharecast Articles

Air France-KLM submits bid for stake in Portugal's TAP
(Sharecast News) - Air France-KLM said it had submitted a non-binding offer to buy a minority stake in TAP Air Portugal as part of the Portuguese government's plan to privatise its national airline.
Sorted Group proposes to dispose of its main trading subsidiary
(Sharecast News) - Sorted Group announced a proposal to dispose of its main trading subsidiary Sorted Group Limited on Thursday, for a nominal £1, in a move that would see the company become an AIM cash shell and pursue a new acquisition-led strategy.
Speedy Hire warns on worsening market conditions despite strategic progress
(Sharecast News) - Tools and equipment hire company Speedy Hire said on Thursday that it had delivered "significant strategic progress" in FY26, highlighted by its "transformational" partnership with Proservice and continued momentum across its core operations, but also cautioned that trading conditions had deteriorated further in the final quarter amid budget uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and customer‑driven delays.
RBC Capital Markets upgrades Berkeley to 'outperform'
(Sharecast News) - Analysts at RBC Capital Markets upgraded housebuilder Berkeley from 'sector perform' to 'outperform' on Thursday, noting the group had "acted decisively" to the challenges it had faced.

Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

Award-winning online share dealing

Search, compare and select from thousands of shares.

Expert insights into investing your money

Our team of experts explore the world of share dealing.