European Commission Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera announced on 9 June 2026 that the Commission has adopted interim measures requiring Meta to restore free access to WhatsApp for competing AI assistants, reversing a policy change that had blocked rivals since January. The measures will remain in place until the Commission's abuse-of-dominance investigation concludes, or at the latest until June 2029.
Ribera explained that in October 2025 Meta announced it would ban all competing AI assistants from WhatsApp as of 15 January 2026, allowing only its own Meta AI assistant to remain accessible. The Commission opened an investigation and issued a Statement of Objections on 6 March 2026. In response, Meta offered to give rivals access again but subject to a fee that Ribera described as so high that it is economically unsustainable for competitors, effectively maintaining the blockade.
"Meta gave no convincing justification for its policy changes," Ribera said. "It seems that Meta expects to leverage the vast reach and likely dominance of WhatsApp to benefit its own AI assistant and to foreclose rivals." She stressed that AI markets are developing rapidly and that the Commission cannot allow large digital incumbents to leverage past dominance to dictate competition and innovation in AI.
The interim measures require Meta to return to the status quo ante — the same free-access arrangement it had voluntarily maintained until January 2026. Ribera noted that the Commission rarely uses interim measures powers; the last instance was in 2019. "When it is necessary to use these interim measures, like it is in this case, we use them," she said, adding that the same approach will be taken if similar circumstances arise.
Ribera emphasised that the measures are not protectionist: half of the complainants in the case are US-based AI companies. "Our rules try to be fair. They do not care about nationality. They care only about the interests of European consumers and ensuring a level playing field." She cited approximately 6,700 AI start-ups in Europe and expressed hope that many will seize the opportunity to bring their solutions to EU citizens.
The decision reflects a cleavage between preserving market contestability and innovation in the fast-moving AI sector versus allowing a dominant platform to leverage its user base to favour its own product. For Meta, the measures impose a direct operational requirement to restore free access, potentially limiting its ability to monetise WhatsApp as a distribution channel for its AI assistant. For rival AI companies — both European and non-European — the decision removes a significant barrier to reaching WhatsApp's large user base, preserving a key access route. For European consumers, the measures preserve choice among AI assistants on WhatsApp. For the Commission, the action signals a willingness to use expedited enforcement tools to prevent irreversible market tipping in digital markets, learning from past cases where slow action allowed dominant players to become entrenched.