Italy’s antitrust watchdog has opened an investigation into Meta Platforms over concerns that the company may have violated European Union competition laws by embedding its artificial intelligence (AI) assistant into WhatsApp without user consent.

According to Reuters, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) suspects Meta of abusing its dominant market position by integrating its Meta AI tool into WhatsApp’s search bar in a way that could unfairly steer users toward the company’s own AI services, undermining competitors and limiting consumer choice.

“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,” the AGCM stated. The authority added that this could potentially harm rival AI service providers and entrench Meta’s dominance.

Meta responded in a statement, saying it is cooperating with the investigation and that the AI features offer real value to users. “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,” the company said.

The Rome-based authority said it conducted inspections at Meta’s Italian offices with the assistance of the country’s tax police antitrust unit and is working closely with the European Commission.

Meta AI was launched in WhatsApp in March 2025 and offers chatbot-style interactions and virtual assistant capabilities directly within the app. Under EU competition law, companies found to have abused a dominant market position can face fines of up to 10% of their global turnover.

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