(Dec 4): The European Union plans to start an investigation into how Meta Platforms Inc built AI features into WhatsApp this year, the Financial Times reported, in what could be the latest probe into Big Tech’s dominance of the region’s online scene.
The European Commission is preparing to open a probe into the way the US company integrated its “Meta AI” system into the popular messaging service, the newspaper reported. The agency may announce the investigation as soon as in coming days, it added.
It’s unclear what aspect of the rollout, which began in March, the agency may be targeting. The commission’s imminent investigation is based on traditional antitrust law rather than the Digital Markets Act, the FT reported. The Trump administration regards that sweeping legislation — a series of dos and don’ts for the likes of Alphabet Inc’s Google and Apple Inc — as the region’s attempt to curb the influence of US tech in Europe.
The EU has in recent years ramped up pressure on Big Tech, seeking to curb potential market abuses as the US tech titans’ clout and digital footprint expanded.
US President Donald Trump has long railed against EU tech and antitrust regulation impeding American companies. In August, he threatened to impose fresh tariffs and export restrictions on advanced technology and semiconductors in retaliation to other nations’ digital services taxes that hit American technology companies.
Representatives for Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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