By Elvira Pollina
MILAN (Reuters) -Italy’s antitrust authority said on Wednesday it had launched an investigation into Meta Platforms over allegations the company abused its dominant position by installing its artificial intelligence tool on messaging service WhatsApp.
The watchdog said Meta may have violated European Union competition rules by integrating its Meta AI assistant into WhatsApp without user consent, a move that might harm its competitors.
The company said it was cooperating with the Rome-based authority and that its AI service benefited customers.
“Offering free access to our AI features in WhatsApp gives millions of Italians the choice to use AI in a place they already know, trust and understand,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
The authority, known as AGCM, said it acted “in close cooperation with the relevant offices of the European Commission”.
Meta AI, which provides chatbot-style responses and virtual assistant functions, has been part of WhatsApp’s interface since March 2025, and was included in the app’s search bar, the authority said.
The regulator said inclusion could unfairly steer users toward Meta’s AI services, potentially harming competitors and locking users into the platform.
“By pairing Meta AI with WhatsApp, Meta appears to be able to steer its user base into the new market not through merit-based competition, but by ‘forcing’ users to accept the availability of two distinct services, potentially harming competing services”, the authority said.
Companies that breach EU competition rules by abusing a dominant position can be fined up to 10% of their worldwide turnover.
The authority said its officials carried out investigations at the offices of Meta’s Italian subsidiary with the assistance of Italy’s tax police special antitrust unit.
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina, editing by Cristina Carlevaro and Andrew Heavens)
