Report: The EU plans to launch a new antitrust investigation against Meta, targeting AI features within WhatsApp

The European Union is about to launch a new round of antitrust investigations against Meta, focusing on the company's integration of AI features within WhatsApp, marking the latest regulatory action by the EU against tech giants.

On December 4th, according to media reports, two sources revealed that the European Commission is preparing to investigate how Meta integrated the "Meta AI" system into its popular messaging service earlier this year, with an announcement to initiate the investigation expected in the coming days, although the timing may still be adjusted.

Reports indicate that this new investigation will be conducted under traditional antitrust laws rather than the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The latter is the EU's landmark legislation aimed at curbing the dominance of large online platforms, but it has recently become a focal point of criticism from the Trump administration.

The timing of this investigation is sensitive, coinciding with increasing friction between the US and EU over tech regulation issues. The Trump administration has openly opposed EU regulations on American tech giants, while the EU emphasizes its commitment to enforcing digital regulatory rules.

Controversy Over AI Feature Launch and Integration

Meta launched AI features in WhatsApp in European countries in March this year, having delayed the introduction due to the region's "complex regulatory framework." The feature is designed as an AI assistant within the app's chat function, capable of suggesting prompts and providing additional text to fill messages.

Reports indicate that Italy's antitrust authority has taken the lead in investigating Meta, accusing the company of leveraging its dominant position to integrate AI into WhatsApp without user consent.

Last month, Italian regulators expanded the scope of the investigation to include new terms and AI features for WhatsApp Business messaging services, believing these changes "could restrict the production, market access, or technological development of AI chatbot services."

A Meta spokesperson referred to a previous statement regarding the investigation in Italy, stating that the relevant accusations are "baseless." Meta stated:

"Recent updates will not affect the thousands of businesses that provide support to customers and send relevant updates, nor will it affect businesses that choose to chat with customers using their selected AI assistants."

EU Continues to Strengthen Digital Regulation

The investigation into Meta is seen as a continuation of a series of recent regulatory actions by the EU. Previously, the EU has investigated Alphabet, Google's parent company, regarding its ranking of news agencies in search results under the Digital Markets Act, as well as investigations into Amazon and Microsoft's cloud computing services.

Despite facing the risk of potential retaliation from Washington and ongoing criticism from the US, the European Commission emphasizes its commitment to enforcing its digital regulatory rules. Zuckerberg has been lobbying the Trump administration against what he perceives as heavy EU regulations.

US President Trump and Vice President Vance (JD Vance) have both publicly opposed regulatory rules targeting American tech giants after meeting with Zuckerberg and his lobbying team. Last month, US Secretary of Commerce Lutnick (Howard Lutnick) stated during a visit to Brussels that the EU must relax its tech regulations According to reports, this action by the European Union comes as Meta has just won an antitrust lawsuit in the United States. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission had previously attempted to force the $1.6 trillion company to divest its acquisitions of WhatsApp and the photo-sharing app Instagram.

The judge in the case ruled that Meta did not hold monopoly power, as it competes with services like Google YouTube. This ruling sharply contrasts with the EU's regulatory stance, highlighting the growing divergence in tech regulation between the two sides of the Atlantic