Italy’s competition authority (AGCM) announced on Wednesday that it has opened a formal antitrust investigation into Meta Platforms. The state is concerned that the company may have abused its market dominance by integrating the Meta AI assistant into WhatsApp without securing explicit user consent.
The authority is examining whether Meta exploited its market power by forcing users of the WhatsApp messaging service to accept its artificial intelligence virtual assistant, Meta AI, rather than providing them with a meaningful choice and obtaining clear consent.
By automatically integrating Meta AI into WhatsApp’s interface, the AGCM says, the tech firm might be violating European Union competition laws. The fear is that Meta may be abusing its power in the Italian messaging market (in which WhatsApp is widely adopted) to coerce users into adopting its AI ecosystem, contravening users’ freedom of choice and damaging smaller AI competitors.
The service has been integrated into WhatsApp’s search bar since March 2025. This means that even without a download, users can get chatbot-style responses (and other virtual assistant capabilities). AGCM argues that this automatic integration may risk pushing consumers to use Meta’s services, simply because they are on a dominant platform.
Regulator warns of threat to market competition
In a blistering statement, the authority said Meta’s plan could be an example of so-called tying — when a company leverages a popular product to spur use of another. That could limit consumer choice and disadvantage competitors in the AI assistant sphere, forcing those rivals into wars of attrition they’re less equipped to fight than Big Tech, which can count on growing user numbers coming in the door.
If confirmed, such behaviour would seriously violate EU competition rules . Under European law, companies that are found to have abused a dominant market position can be fined up to 10% of their global turnover. For Meta, a tech giant, this could mean fines in the billions of euros.
The AGCM also said it is working closely with the European Commission, which is ramping up its scrutiny of Big Tech companies by deploying the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The legislation, passed by the European Union, is designed to rein in unfair practices by so-called “gatekeeper” companies in the digital economy.
Meta defends its AI rollout on WhatsApp
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has denied breaching the rules. The company maintains that its AI tools provide legitimate benefits and that users are not coerced into using the service.
Meta claims that offering its AI tools within WhatsApp at no cost allows millions of Italians to explore artificial intelligence in a familiar and trusted environment. According to the company, the AI integration is optional and designed to improve the overall user experience.
Despite Meta’s commitment, the AGCM said that local Italian authorities had raided Meta’s local Italian offices using its officers and a special antitrust unit of Italy’s tax police on the ground to conduct the operation. According to observers, these were raids to collect evidence and signal the regulator’s firm intent and seriousness in pursuing the case.
The investigation is part of a broader European effort to govern how the biggest tech companies apply artificial intelligence, especially regarding privacy, market fairness, and consumer protection. Watchdogs across the EU are growing concerned that the largest players will automatically be able to create an AI monopoly.
This case may set a significant precedent. Should the regulator rule against Meta, it could also reset how AI tools come to be offered through large digital platforms, with companies forced to articulate more distinctions between services and to show greater respect for what types of choices their users want.
For now, Italian users of WhatsApp still see Meta AI in their app, but that could change after the outcome of the investigation. The AGCM has not provided a timeframe for its ruling but noted that it is dedicated to safeguarding the competition among businesses and freedom of choice for consumers in the digital era.
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