Turkey’s competition authority has opened an investigation into Meta Platforms over whether the company used WhatsApp to give its own artificial intelligence service an unfair advantage over rival AI chatbots.
The Competition Board also issued a temporary order requiring Meta to keep WhatsApp open to competing AI services while the investigation continues.
The order means Meta must create conditions that allow third-party generative artificial intelligence chatbots and assistants to offer services through WhatsApp without being pushed out, blocked or forced to operate under terms that make their service harder or more expensive to provide.
The board announced the decision Friday. It had voted on May 14 to investigate Meta Platforms Inc., Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, WhatsApp LLC and Meta Platforms İstanbul Bilişim Hizmetleri Limited Şirketi, which it treated as one business group.
The investigation will examine whether Meta violated Article 6 of Turkey’s competition law, which bans companies with market power from using that power to shut out competitors.
The case focuses on Meta’s integration of Meta AI into WhatsApp and allegations that the company prevented other artificial intelligence providers from offering their services through WhatsApp.
The board said its preliminary review found serious signs that Meta’s conduct may have harmed competition by preventing rival general-purpose generative AI chatbots and assistants from using WhatsApp as a main channel to reach users.
Meta must comply within one month after it is notified of the reasoned decision. The company faces fines if it does not meet the requirements, the board said.
The Turkish investigation follows similar scrutiny in Europe. The European Commission has also examined whether Meta’s WhatsApp rules excluded third-party artificial intelligence assistants from the app, while Italy’s competition authority ordered Meta to suspend terms that it said could block competing AI chatbot providers from WhatsApp.
Meta has faced earlier competition cases in Turkey. In 2022 the Competition Board found that Meta had violated Turkish competition law by combining data collected from Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp in a way that harmed competitors in social networking and online advertising.