The European Union launched an investigation on Thursday into US tech giant Meta for a possible breach of competition rules related to the artificial intelligence (AI) features of its WhatsApp messaging app.
The European Commission explained in a statement that a new policy announced by Meta ‘could prevent third-party providers’ of AI ‘from offering their services through WhatsApp’, which, if confirmed, would constitute an abuse of a dominant position.
At a time when AI-related activities are in full swing, Brussels wants to ensure ‘that citizens and businesses reap the full benefits of this technological revolution, while preventing those in dominant positions from exploiting it to drive out competition,’ said Teresa Ribera, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Competition.
Currently, the EU explained, WhatsApp allows companies to communicate with their customers through its platform, and some do so using AI services developed by providers independent of Meta, the parent company of other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
However, according to the Commission, the new operating rules announced by the Californian company could prevent access to external providers, to the benefit of its own service, called Meta AI.
Contacted by AFP, a WhatsApp spokesperson stated that ‘these claims are unfounded’.
The proliferation of AI chatbots using WhatsApp’s application programming interface (API) for businesses ‘is putting a strain on our systems, which were not designed to handle such a load,’ hence the announced changes, he said.
Meta had already been under investigation in Italy since July in connection with the rollout of its AI assistant on WhatsApp, as the country’s competition authority considered that it could harm its competitors.
This new investigation demonstrates Brussels’ determination to regulate companies in the digital sector, despite repeated pressure from the United States, which accuses the EU of unfairly targeting American leaders in the sector.
Source: Yahoo!Finanzas
