Tech

Meta's addition of AI services to encrypted messaging platform WhatsApp has Italian officials suspecting the Silicon Valley giant may be abusing its dominant market position to push unwanted features on users.

The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) said in a statement that Meta added its Meta AI service to WhatsApp "without any prior request from users" and that it was "placed in a prominent position on the screen and integrated into the search bar."

The AGCM believes these actions could be a violation of article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

"By combining Meta AI with WhatsApp, Meta appears capable of channeling its customer base into the emerging market, not through merit-based competition, but by 'imposing' the availability of the two distinct services upon users, potentially harming competitors," the AGCM said.

That imposition locks users into Meta's AI ecosystem, the AGCM added, further entrenching Meta's market dominance and limiting competition from local AI firms. Meta has not directly disputed the possibility that integrating its AI into WhatsApp could confer market dominance.