AI-generated content
Since March 2025, the AI assistant "Meta AI" has been directly and visibly integrated into the WhatsApp app. Users see the feature in the interface by default and can use it immediately—without having to actively enable it.
The European Commission sees this as more than just a new feature. It is preparing formal antitrust proceedings. The suspicion: Meta could abuse its dominant market position to distort competition in the AI sector.
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The preliminary investigation focuses on the question of whether Meta is using its platform position to give its own AI services an unfair advantage.
Specifically, it is about:
Is it realistic for competitors to integrate their own AI assistants into WhatsApp?
Is user behavior influenced by default visibility?
Is Meta AI really the only option?
This investigation is not being conducted under the Digital Markets Act, but rather under traditional European competition law. At the same time, the Italian competition authority is also investigating whether the integration of Meta AI will result in market-distorting coupling.
AI generated content
The significance of this case lies not only in the app itself, but in the principle.
For the first time, regulatory authorities are making it clear that AI is not an additional feature, but a potential competitive advantage with structural impact.
This changes the perspective:
Platform providers must justify how they integrate AI functions
There needs to be genuine freedom of choice instead of predetermined usage.
Transparency, fairness, and governance are becoming competitive criteria
Should legal proceedings ensue, the case could set a precedent for all platforms that integrate AI deeply into their products.
AI generated content
Even though the decision on official proceedings is still pending, the direction is clear.
Cross-platform integration of AI is not a legal vacuum. Companies that integrate their own AI functions into existing products should critically examine the following points:
How visible is AI in the user experience?
What alternatives are offered—technically and in terms of content?
Are the functions voluntary, traceable, and controllable?
Will the market be structured fairly, or will a closed cosmos emerge?
💼 Those who deeply integrate AI also assume structural responsibility. Fairness, transparency, and governance are not a risk—they are prerequisites for trust and long-term success.
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K11 Highlights
Book publication:
AI regulation made easy / Deicke /Heynike / Deuerling
Duncker & Humblot / ISBN 978-3-87440-408-2