Meta has offered rival AI chatbot developers one month of free access to WhatsApp’s business API in Europe as it tries to resolve an antitrust investigation by the European Commission and avoid a possible fine, according to a report by Reuters.

The move comes weeks after EU regulators signalled that they were preparing to order Meta to open WhatsApp to competing AI services. The case centres on Meta’s earlier decision to allow only its AI assistant on WhatsApp. In March, the company revised the policy, allowing rivals to access the platform only by paying a fee. That led to fresh objections from EU regulators.

How the dispute started: The dispute began after Meta announced in October 2025 that it would block third-party AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Perplexity from using WhatsApp’s Business API beginning in January 2026.

In December 2025, Italy’s competition authority intervened against Meta’s planned ban on third-party AI chatbots using WhatsApp, warning that it could damage competition in the AI market. In February 2026, the European Commission also objected to the restrictions, saying Meta’s actions could marginalise smaller AI rivals.

“As part of ongoing discussions with the European Commission, general-purpose AI chatbots operating in the EEA will be given free access to the WhatsApp Business API for one month,” a Meta spokesperson said. “This will ‌provide the ⁠Commission and Meta with time to achieve a quick and fair outcome to the investigation.”

EU response and Meta’s defence: The European Commission said the offer was “a step in the right direction” and added: “The Commission believes this creates adequate conditions to discuss commitments with Meta that would address our concerns on the ⁠substance of the case.” It also warned that the talks would depend on “Meta’s genuine intention to address the Commission’s concerns.”

Meta has argued that third-party AI bots have sharply increased message volumes on WhatsApp and strained the infrastructure built mainly for customer support and business updates. The company had also said it did not have a pricing system for AI chatbot providers at the time.

Complaints over pricing: Some developers had earlier accused Meta of making access too expensive after partially easing the restrictions. Poke.com co-founder Marvin von Hagen wrote on X: “Our average cost per user went from $0.13 to $11.04 – just for the whatsapp api. How does this allow for fair competition?”

What is at stake: If the company settles the case, it could avoid a formal antitrust ruling and a penalty of up to 10% of its global annual revenue under EU competition rules.

The investigation began after complaints from California-based The Interaction Company, which develops the Poke.com AI assistant, and a Spanish competitor.

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