The European Commission will open an antitrust procedure regarding the use of artificial intelligence in WhatsApp, owned by Meta. This was confirmed on Thursday by EU antitrust commissioner Teresa Ribera. This is reported by Euractiv, writes UNN.
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Speaking before the European Parliament, Ribera informed MEPs that the Commission expects to "open a relevant procedure," referring to Meta's use of AI technologies in its messenger. "But we have not yet signed the document," she clarified.
As the Financial Times reported on Thursday, the investigation will focus on what competitive implications Meta's integration of its AI assistant into WhatsApp might have.
The publication also noted that the new antitrust investigation will consider Meta's possible abuse of its dominant market position under classic EU competition rules, rather than under the new Digital Markets Act (DMA) rules aimed at large technology players.
Separately, since July, the Italian antitrust regulator has also been investigating Meta's integration of its AI assistant into WhatsApp.
In further comments to MEPs on antitrust investigations in new technology areas, particularly AI and cloud services, Ribera emphasized that it is important for regulators to adopt a "dynamic approach" to respond to the "very high speed" at which digital markets are developing.
She also assured MEPs that the EU's digital regulatory package is not being used as a bargaining chip "in any trade negotiations," referring to concerns about US pressure on the EU regarding antitrust and DMA cases against American tech giants.