The EU Commission has instructed the Meta Group to allow competitors’ AI providers in addition to its own chatbot in its messaging app Whatsapp. On Monday, the commission threatened Meta with consequences if the US group continued to block access to other providers. The Commission justified its approach by excluding WhatsApp from eliminating smaller competitors from the market. Meta rejected the demands. Most users know Whatsapp as a messenger service for private chats with friends or family. However, companies are now also using the service: consumers can contact customer service via WhatsApp or even place orders in online shops. Behind this there is usually an AI chatbot that answers the customer. Meta has turned this into a business model and collects fees from the companies. According to the company, however, another phenomenon has developed: pure AI providers who run their general chatbots – based on the model of ChatGPT or Google Gemini – via the WhatsApp service and thus take advantage of Meta’s reach and servers. Such use is not in the spirit of the WhatsApp parent, which has built its own AI chatbot into the app. In October, Meta therefore changed the terms and conditions for WhatsApp corporate functions and excluded all companies whose main business is artificial intelligence itself. A transition period for companies that already use the function expired in mid-January. According to the EU Commission, Meta is violating EU competition rules and could cause “irreparable damage” to smaller competitors. “We cannot allow the dominant technology companies to exploit their market power to gain an unfair advantage,” said EU Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera.Meta rejected the allegations. “There is no reason for the EU to intervene,” said a company spokeswoman. The Commission “wrongly” assumes that WhatsApp is an important sales channel for AI chatbots. The company can now formally respond to the threat from Brussels. If the commission then sticks to its allegations, it can impose so-called interim measures and formally order that Meta change its terms and conditions. Otherwise you risk a fine.
Go to Source