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The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) has launched an investigation against Meta Platforms, Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, WhatsApp Ireland Limited and Facebook Italy Srl for alleged abuse of a dominant position in breach of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
The move, according to a press release , concerns Meta's decision, which takes effect from March 2025, to pre-install its Meta AI artificial intelligence service within WhatsApp, placing it in a prominent position and integrating it into the search bar without any clear choice from users.
The investigation, conducted in close cooperation with the competent offices of the European Commission, focuses on the possible anti-competitive effect of this practice, which could "impose" the use of Meta AI on WhatsApp's broad user base, hindering the possibility of using alternative services.
AI flaws and competition concerns
Meta AI is a chatbot and virtual assistant service based on artificial intelligence technologies, designed to answer various questions and provide interactions similar to those of digital assistants. According to the Authority, the forced connection of Meta AI and WhatsApp would allow Meta to leverage its dominant position in the messaging market to expand into the emerging AI services sector, not through merit-based competition, but through pre-installation and privileged visibility.
The risk identified by the Italian Competition Authority is that users could become dependent on the service, which over time would improve the quality of responses thanks to data provided by the users themselves, thus reducing the possibility of adopting competing solutions.
Inspections at Meta's offices in Italy
As part of the investigation, the Authority's officers carried out inspections at the offices of Facebook Italy Srl, with the support of the Special Antitrust Unit of the Guardia di Finanza. The activity aims to collect evidence to assess whether Meta's conduct constitutes an abuse of its dominant position in the communication applications market, with possible restrictive effects on competition in the emerging artificial intelligence assistance services sector.
The investigation will determine whether Meta's integration of AI into WhatsApp is in line with European competition rules and whether Meta's strategy creates an unfair competitive advantage to the detriment of rival services.
The opening of the investigation follows a complaint filed last May by Codacons, which reported the automatic introduction of Meta AI into WhatsApp without the prior consent of users. According to the association, the forced integration represents an unfair commercial practice, presented as an improvement of the service, but aimed at collecting data and building user loyalty by influencing their financial behavior. Codacons expressed its satisfaction with the opening of the investigation and announced that, if any illegal behavior is discovered, it will take the necessary legal action to protect users.
Meta's reaction
A Meta spokesperson said: "Offering free access to our AI features on WhatsApp gives millions of Italians the opportunity to use AI in an environment they already know, trust and understand. We are fully cooperating with the Italian Competition Authority."
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