Berlin – Meta Platforms has offered rival artificial intelligence chatbots, including those from OpenAI, free access to its WhatsApp messaging service in Europe, but only up to a point, after which it will start charging them, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.
The offer was submitted to EU antitrust regulators last week, after the European Commission said it was considering ordering Meta to provide rivals access to WhatsApp while an ongoing investigation into the matter is concluded. Neither side had disclosed the details of the offer at the time.
Interested parties had until 18 May to provide feedback to the Commission before it decides whether to accept Meta’s proposal. Once rival AI chatbots hit a limit in terms of messages sent to users, Meta would begin charging them, according to the two sources. 
The development comes as Mark Zuckerberg’s company, which also controls Facebook, faces mounting pressure from EU regulators who are tightening their grip on Big Tech and working to ensure competition in new digital markets.
The Commission declined to comment beyond saying its priority is to keep the growing market of AI assistants open and competitive for innovators, and that Meta’s offer should allow space for further talks to address its concerns.
Meta, for its part, said it has given rival AI chatbots in Europe free access to WhatsApp’s business Application Programming Interface for one month while it works to resolve the issue with regulators. An API is a type of software interface that determines how two software systems interact with each other.
Smaller rivals, however, were not impressed. The Interaction Company of California, developer of the Poke.com AI assistant, and French startup Agentik, both of which had previously complained to the Commission, dismissed Meta’s offer outright.
“Unfortunately, Meta’s current proposal is far from resolving any of the competition concerns identified in this case. If Meta does not put forward a genuinely constructive proposal without delay, we urge the Commission to proceed with the interim measures,” The Interaction Company of California said.
Agentik founder Jeremy Andre said the offer discriminates against rivals because it would not apply to Meta’s own AI chatbot. Meta’s AI assistant, however, does not use WhatsApp’s API.
Meta introduced a policy in January that allowed only its own Meta AI assistant on WhatsApp, before amending it in March to say rivals could use the platform for a fee. That triggered a second charge sheet from the EU watchdog, prompting the company to suspend fees for a month while discussions with the Commission continued.
