Italy's antitrust authority said Meta may have violated European Union competition rules by integrating its Meta AI assistant into WhatsApp without user consent.

Italy said Wednesday it opened a probe into social media giant Meta for potentially breaking EU competition laws by installing its AI tool into WhatsApp. It said merging Meta AI with WhatsApp, Meta could be "channelling its customer base into the emerging market,

WhatsApp has enormous reach. Meta Platforms integrates AI services without being asked. This could affect competition in the AI market. Italy investigates.

Italy's antitrust authority, AKA the body the looks into monopoly abuses by companies, has reportedly launched an investigation into Meta. According to Reuters, the Italian authority is considering, "allegations the company abused its dominant position by installing its artificial intelligence tool on messaging service WhatsApp.

The regulator contends that Meta AI's integration into WhatsApp may unfairly steer users to its services, limiting competition and user choice.

Italy’s antitrust watchdog (AGCM) is investigating Meta for integrating its AI assistant into WhatsApp without user consent.

Competiton regulator smells abuse of a dominant market position, Zuckercorp claims all is well Meta's addition of AI services to encrypted messaging platform WhatsApp has Italian officials suspecting the Silicon Valley giant may be abusing its dominant market position to push unwanted features on users.

The technology giant is under investigation in Italy for alleged breaches of EU competition law. View on euronews