<div id="readability-page-1"><div>By Adria Calatayud The Italian Competition Authority said it ordered WhatsApp owner Meta Platforms to suspend a policy that excludes rival artificial-intelligence chatbots from the messaging platform. The authority, known as AGCM, said Wednesday that the decision stems from an investigation, which remains underway, into the integration of Meta's own AI service into WhatsApp. The AGCM said that Meta's conduct might harm competition, and that its order seeks to preserve access to WhatsApp for the tech company's AI competitors while the probe continues. Meta said it would appeal the decision that it called fundamentally flawed, adding that the emergence of AI chatbots on its business application programming interface put a strain on its systems that they weren't designed to support. &#34;The Italian authority assumes WhatsApp is somehow a defacto app store,&#34; a Meta spokesman said. &#34;The route to market for AI companies are the app stores themselves, their websites and industry partnerships; not the WhatsApp Business Platform.&#34; The AGCM in July opened an investigation to assess whether AI features Meta rolled out on WhatsApp amounted to an abuse of a dominant position. It broadened the scope of the probe in November to include a change in WhatsApp's business terms excluding general purpose AI chatbots from the platform, and said the company's new rules could call for interim measures. The authority said Wednesday that the conditions for adopting interim measures had been met. &#34;Meta's conduct appears to constitute an abuse, since it may limit production, market access or technical developments in the AI chatbot services market, to the detriment of consumers,&#34; the AGCM said. The Italian regulator said it was coordinating with European Union antitrust officials on the issue. Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires12-24-25 0457ET</div></div>

META

Italy's Competition Authority ordered Meta to allow rival AI chatbots on WhatsApp, citing potential harm to competition. Meta plans to appeal, arguing WhatsApp isn't an app store and AI chatbots strain its systems. The investigation, coordinated with EU officials, examines Meta's potential abuse of a dominant position by excluding AI chatbots from WhatsApp.

- The Italian Competition Authority ordered Meta Platforms to suspend its policy that restricts rival AI chatbots from accessing WhatsApp, due to ongoing investigations into potential anti-competitive behavior.  
- Meta plans to appeal the decision, arguing that the exclusion of AI chatbots is necessary for system stability and criticizing the assumption that WhatsApp functions as a market store for apps.  
- The AGCM's investigation, which began in July, has raised concerns about Meta's dominance and its potential to harm competition and consumer choice in the AI chatbot market.

Italy Watchdog Orders Meta to Allow Rival AI Chatbots in WhatsApp -- Update