The European Commission has issued an interim order requiring Meta to provide rival artificial intelligence developers with complimentary access to its WhatsApp Business API.

歐盟委員會已發布一項臨時指令，要求 Meta 必須向競爭對手的人工智能開發商提供免費的 WhatsApp Business API 訪問權。

The current regulatory intervention follows a formal antitrust investigation initiated in December 2025, precipitated by grievances from AI developers in the United States, France, and Spain. These entities alleged that Meta's restriction of the WhatsApp Business API to its proprietary Meta AI constituted an abuse of market dominance. While Meta subsequently introduced a fee-based access model in March, the Commission determined that such financial requirements were economically unsustainable for competitors and contrary to competition standards. Consequently, the Commission has mandated a reversion to the pre-October 2025 framework, wherein access was provided without charge.

此次監管干預源於 2025 年 12 月啟動的一項正式反壟斷調查，是由美國、法國及西班牙的 AI 開發商之申訴所觸發。這些實體指稱 Meta 將 WhatsApp Business API 僅限於其專有的 Meta AI 使用，構成了濫用市場主導地位。儘管 Meta 隨後於 3 月引入了收費訪問模式，但委員會認定此類財務要求對競爭對手而言在經濟上不可持續，且違反競爭標準。因此，委員會要求恢復至 2025 年 10 月前的框架，即免費提供訪問權。

Institutional justification for this rare interim measure, the second of its kind in two decades, rests upon the necessity of preventing irreparable harm to the nascent AI assistant market. Commissioner Teresa Ribera asserted that the measure is essential to preserve consumer choice and ensure that third-party innovators can scale their operations via a critical consumer entry point. Should Meta fail to comply by June 15th, it faces potential pecuniary penalties amounting to 10% of its global annual turnover, estimated at approximately $20 billion based on 2025 figures.

此罕見臨時措施為 20 年來第二起，機構上的理由在於有必要防止對剛起步的 AI 助手市場造成不可挽回的損害。委員 Teresa Ribera 主張，該措施對於維護消費者選擇，並確保第三方創新者能透過關鍵的消費者進入點來擴展其業務至關重要。若 Meta 未能在 6 月 15 日前遵守，將面臨高達其全球年度營業額 10% 的潛在罰金，根據 2025 年數據估計約為 200 億美元。

Meta has formally contested the order, characterizing the mandate as regulatory overreach and noting that it effectively subsidizes large entities, such as OpenAI, at the expense of paying European clients. This friction occurs within a broader context of transatlantic tension; the Trump administration has alleged a systemic bias against American technology firms, citing approximately $7 billion in cumulative fines levied against Meta, Google, and Apple since early 2024. The European Commission maintains that these actions are strictly intended to protect the interests of the bloc's consumers.

Meta 已正式對該指令提出異議，將此強制要求定性為監管過度，並指出這實際上是以犧牲付費的歐洲客戶為代價，來補貼如 OpenAI 等大型實體。此摩擦發生在更廣泛的跨大西洋緊張局勢背景下；川普政府指稱美國科技公司面臨系統性偏見，並引用自 2024 年初以來 Meta、Google 和 Apple 累計被處以約 70 億美元罰金的案例。歐盟委員會則維持原見，認為這些行動純粹旨在保護該集團消費者的利益。

Meta intends to appeal the order while the broader antitrust investigation remains ongoing without a definitive conclusion date.

Meta 打算對該指令提出上訴，而更廣泛的反壟斷調查仍在進行中，尚未確定結論日期。