AI compulsion in Whatsapp alarms Italian competition authority
WhatsApp has enormous reach. Meta Platforms integrates AI services without being asked. This could affect competition in the AI market. Italy investigates.
The current Meta-AI logo
(Image: Meta Platforms)
Italy is investigating possible breaches of competition law by Meta Platforms. This is because Meta has integrated its AI service into Whatsapp without being asked. And WhatsApp holds a dominant position in the market for personal communication services. In competition law, it is generally frowned upon to use power in one market as leverage for advantages in another market.
On Tuesday, investigators from the competition authority AGCM and the financial police raided the premises of Facebook Italy, the Italian subsidiary of Meta Platforms. “By combining Meta Platforms Meta AI with Whatsapp, it appears that Meta can channel its customer base into the nascent (AI) market, not through competitive performance, but by imposing two different services, possibly harming competitors,” the AGCM (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato) wrote in a press release.
One of the questions to be clarified will be whether the Meta AI anchored in Whatsapp is really a different service from Whatsapp, as the AGCM sees it, or whether the AI is merely a new part of Whatsapp's own functions. According to the authority, there is a risk that WhatsApp users will become dependent on Meta AI, not least because the data collected by Meta AI should lead to more useful and relevant responses over time. Therefore, the Italian authority, in close coordination with the European Union's competition watchdog, is investigating whether Meta Platforms has abused its dominant market position and violated Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. heise online has invited Meta to comment.
Blue circle never goes away
A blue circle has been displayed in the WhatsApp interface since March. Anyone who taps on it (even by mistake) calls up Meta AI. Meta AI is also anchored in the search area of the app. Interactions are not encrypted and are saved and analyzed by Meta.
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The AI button cannot be removed. This suggests that the responsible Meta employees are under high pressure to succeed and that their success is measured by usage rates of the AI service. The statistics do not differentiate between deliberate use and unintentional calls, known as fat-fingering. A control element that is always prominently displayed inevitably leads to more unintentional interaction and therefore statistically higher usage rates.
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