EU expands Meta investigation into AI policy on WhatsApp

The European Union (EU) said on December 4 that it had launched an antitrust investigation to determine whether the way multinational technology group Meta deployed artificial intelligence (AI) features on its WhatsApp messaging platform violated the bloc's competition rules.

This is the EU's latest move in its efforts to tighten control over technology corporations, in the context that the US President Donald Trump's administration has said that EU technology regulations create unfair barriers for US businesses and threatened to respond with tariffs.

According to the European Commission (EC), the investigation was launched based on the agency's concerns that Meta's new policy could restrict third-party AI providers from providing services through WhatsApp.

Specifically, according to the EC, the policy that Meta announced in October stipulates that businesses that provide AI-based services, such as chatbots or virtual assistants, will not be able to use a tool in the business version of WhatsApp to reach customers directly.

Businesses can still use AI tools for back-end functions, such as customer service.

The EC believes that this implementation by Meta could block AI competitors from accessing WhatsApp users, while Meta's own “Meta AI” service continues to operate normally on the platform.

The EC also noted that the investigation falls within the framework of existing competition rules, not based on newly strengthened digital laws.

EU antitrust commissioner Teresa Ribera stressed that the bloc “must act to prevent companies considered to have a dominant position in digital markets from abusing their power to exclude innovative rivals.”

Ms Ribera said the investigation aimed to determine whether Meta's new policy was contrary to competition rules and whether the EU needed to act quickly to avoid “causing irreparable harm to competition in the AI sector”.

For its part, Meta rejected the EU's arguments, saying “the allegations are baseless.”

Meta said the introduction of AI chatbots on WhatsApp's business interface “has placed a heavy load on a system that was not designed to support it.”

The platform also stressed that the AI market is “very competitive,” and users “can access the service of their choice through a variety of channels, including app stores, search engines, email services, partner integrations, and operating systems.

Meta is currently facing several other investigations under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), one involving allegations that Meta failed to provide researchers with adequate access to public data and another focusing on allegations that Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram failed to provide user-friendly tools for reporting infringing content or appealing content moderation decisions.

The EU is also looking into whether social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, both owned by Meta, are taking sufficient measures to reduce addiction among children./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/eu-mo-rong-dieu-tra-meta-ve-chinh-sach-ai-tren-whatsapp-post1081083.vnp