EU regulators charge Meta with antitrust breaches for blocking AI rivals on WhatsApp

The European Commission has formally charged Meta Platforms, Inc. with breaching antitrust rules within the EU by blocking rival artificial intelligence services from its messaging service. On February 9, 2026, the regulatory body announced it had sent a statement of objections to the tech giant, signaling its intention to seek interim measures to prevent alleged serious and irreparable harm to the market. This immediate intervention follows a policy change on January 15 that limited the software to only support Meta AI.