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Reaching tipping point

On 9 June 2026, the European Commission (“Commission”) ordered Meta to restore free access to WhatsApp for rival general-purpose AI assistants, and to maintain it until the end of the Commission’s Article 102 TFEU investigation. A month later, the Commission also issued binding specification measures to Google under the Digital Markets Act to ensure a level competitive playing field for AI assistants on Google’s Android platform. We examine what these decisions reveal about the Commission’s enforcement strategy in the market for AI services.

Commission decision in Meta/WhatsApp

On 15 October 2025, Meta updated its WhatsApp Business Solution Terms, effectively banning third-party general-purpose AI assistants from the WhatsApp for Business Application Programming Interface and leaving only Meta’s own Meta AI as the only AI assistant available on WhatsApp. The Commission opened proceedings on 4 December 2025 and issued a Statement of Objections notifying Meta of possible interim measures on 9 February 2026. After Meta readmitted rivals on 4 March 2026 subject to a fee, the Commission sent a supplementary Statement of Objections on 15 April 2026, preliminarily finding the fee "in effect equivalent" to the previous access ban and setting out its intention to order Meta to reinstate third-party AI assistants' access to WhatsApp.

Following that supplementary Statement of Objections, the Commission has concluded that interim measures are warranted to prevent serious and irreparable damage to competition in the growing market for general-purpose AI assistants, based on the following prima facie findings:

  1. With WhatsApp, Meta held a dominant position in the EEA-wide market for consumer communication applications since at least January 2023;
  2. Meta has been abusing this dominant position through a refusal to provide access to an infrastructure developed for, and previously open to, third parties; and
  3. There is an urgent need to prevent a risk of serious damage to the competitive structure of the growing AI assistant market, at a key moment when smaller players and new entrants can still challenge large incumbents.

Under the interim measures, Meta was ordered to re-instate access for third-party AI assistants free of charge. Non-compliance risks fines of up to 10% of total turnover and daily penalty payments of up to 5% of average daily turnover. Meta has confirmed that they will appeal the decision, calling it a "regulatory overreach subsidised by the many European companies that pay".

Commission decision on interoperability with Google Android

On 16 July 2026, the Commission issued binding specification measures to Google under the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) in respect of AI assistants. The Commission found that AI assistants competing with Google currently have restricted access to key functionalities of the Google Android operating system, which hinders their ability to compete on an equal footing with Google's own AI services. By virtue of the specification measures, competing AI assistants will have equal access to features on Google's Android devices. Google has under 1 August 2027 at the latest to implement the majority of the measures.

Commentary

The Meta/WhatsApp and Google Android decisions provide an important indication of how the Commission is likely to approach competition concerns in AI markets. They are notable not only for the legal tools used but also for the broader enforcement strategy they suggest.

Firstly, it is worth underlining that the investigation into Meta is proceeding on the traditional basis of an abuse of dominance under Article 102 TFEU. These are not proceedings under the EU’s Digital Markets Act. This is despite the fact that Meta is designated as a gatekeeper under the DMA in respect of WhatsApp, much like Google is a gatekeeper in respect of Google Android.

Secondly, the Meta/WhatsApp decision marks only the second time that the Commission has utilised interim measures in a competition investigation since the power was introduced in 2004. To impose interim measures, there must be both a prima facie competition infringement and urgency arising from a risk of serious and irreparable harm to competition. The tool is little-used given the stiff legal test, and has only been used once before, when the Commission imposed interim measures in 2019 in its Article 102 investigation into Broadcom.

The seriousness of the apparent infringement coupled with the urgent need for regulatory intervention may explain why the Commission reached for its antitrust powers, rather than pursue a more deliberative approach under the DMA. Announcing the decision, Commission Vice-President Ribera noted that “in rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted” and that the interim measures will safeguard nascent competition in the AI market “by preserving a key entry point to reach consumers in Europe – WhatsApp – and allowing AI companies to innovate, scale up and reach their full potential." In a statement to the press, Vice-President Ribera also stated that the Commission was drawing on "lessons learned" from past tech innovation cycles, in which competition authorities had been too slow to act, leaving the market in a state where they are “no longer contestible” as a result of powerful companies with entrenched market power.

This motivation also underpins the Commission’s decision to issue specification measures to Google under the DMA. Justifying its decision, the Commission noted that AI assistants are becoming a primary way for users to interact with their mobile devices and that Google’s Gemini, by virtue of Google position in the AI stack and strong position in the European market for mobile devices, “is uniquely placed to become the leading AI offering on mobile devices”. The interoperability measures were therefore necessary to ensure the development of genuine competition and innovation.

The direction of travel is clear: the Commission will not allow the AI market to fall victim to the same forces that produced – and continue to produce – anticompetitive effects in other digital markets. To accomplish this, it will rely on all the tools in its regulatory arsenal.