{"id":51795,"date":"2026-03-06T05:26:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T05:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=51795"},"modified":"2026-03-06T05:26:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T05:26:14","slug":"278671","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/03\/06\/278671\/","title":{"rendered":"Meta to allow rival AI chatbots on WhatsApp amid EU pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-274167 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Meta-to-allow-rival-AI-chatbots-on-WhatsApp-amid-EU.jpg?resize=640%2C341&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Meta to allow rival AI chatbots on WhatsApp amid EU pressure\" width=\"640\" height=\"341\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Meta-to-allow-rival-AI-chatbots-on-WhatsApp-amid-EU.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/whatsapp-1500-800-300x160.jpg 300w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/whatsapp-1500-800-1024x546.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/whatsapp-1500-800-768x410.jpg 768w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/whatsapp-1500-800-150x80.jpg 150w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/whatsapp-1500-800-450x240.jpg 450w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/whatsapp-1500-800-1200x640.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>AI rivals will<\/strong> be allowed on WhatsApp for a year, Meta Platforms said, aiming to head off a possible temporary order from EU antitrust regulators after complaints from competitors shut out of the messaging service.<\/p>\n<p>The European Commission, the EU\u2019s competition enforcer, last month threatened interim measures to prevent potential serious and irreparable harm to rivals after Meta blocked them from WhatsApp, mirroring moves by Italy\u2019s watchdog in December.<\/p>\n<p>Meta has now told the commission it will let rival AI chatbots access WhatsApp for a fee. The company barred them on 15 January, allowing only its Meta AI assistant on the service.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"modern-quote pull alignright\">We\u2019ll support general-purpose AI chatbots using the WhatsApp Business API in Europe<br \/>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cFor the next 12 months, we\u2019ll support general-purpose AI chatbots using the WhatsApp Business API in Europe in response to the European Commission\u2019s regulatory process,\u201d a Meta spokesman said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe that this removes the need for any immediate intervention as it gives the European Commission the time it needs to conclude its investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The commission said it was analysing how Meta\u2019s changes might affect both its interim measures review and its broader antitrust investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Meta has previously said the rise of chatbots on its platforms strains its systems and that other channels exist for AI providers, including app stores, search engines, e-mail services, partnership integrations and operating systems.<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Vexatiou pricing\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Meta allowed rival chatbots onto WhatsApp in Italy in January after an order from the Italian antitrust authority, which is still investigating. The Interaction Company of California, developer of the Poke.com AI assistant and a complainant to EU and Italian regulators, urged Brussels to impose an interim order on Meta.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat Meta presents as good-faith compliance is in reality the opposite. The company is now introducing vexatious pricing for AI providers that makes it just as impossible to operate on WhatsApp as the outright ban did,\u201d its CEO Marvin von Hagen said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe so-called Italian \u2018solution\u2019 is thus no solution at all. It simply replaces one anticompetitive restriction with another,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: right;\">Read: EU regulators take aim at WhatsApp<\/h3>\n<p>Meta said its policy changes will also apply in Brazil after a court on Wednesday reinstated an injunction from the country\u2019s antitrust authority that another court had suspended in January. The Brazilian case is similar to the EU and Italian ones.\u00a0 \u2014 <em>(c) 2026 Reuters<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b><i>Get breaking news from TechCentral on WhatsApp.\u00a0<\/i><\/b><span class=\"s2\"><b><i>Sign up here<\/i><\/b><\/span><b><i>.<\/i><\/b><b><i\/><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Meta #rival #chatbots #WhatsApp #pressure<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AI rivals will be allowed on WhatsApp for a year, Meta Platforms said, aiming to head off a possible temporary&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51795"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51797,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51795\/revisions\/51797"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}