An Italian injunction against Meta Platforms over tying its AI service to WhatsApp could be subsumed into an EU-level investigation if the European Commission advances a separate case against the company, according to a senior Italian regulator. Saverio Valentino, a board member at the Italian competition authority, said if the EU follows through on steps to impose an injunction on Meta, it could mean Italy closes its own probe.
An Italian injunction against Meta Platforms over tying its AI service to WhatsApp could be subsumed into an EU-level investigation if the European Commission advances a separate case against the company, according to a senior Italian regulator. Saverio Valentino, a board member at the Italian competition authority, said if the EU followed through on steps to impose an injunction on Meta it could mean Italy closes its own probe.
Italy was the first country to take on Meta over a suspected distribution advantage it was giving to its own AI service by adding it to the WhatsApp messaging service. In December, it imposed an injunction on Meta to stop it rolling out a new policy that banned other AI chatbots from being distributed over WhatsApp.
While the Italian action applied only to its own country, this month, the European Commission sent Meta a formal charge sheet, envisaging a similar injunction for the rest of Europe.
It carved out Italy in a move that resembled similar action against Amazon where Brussels and Rome ran parallel cases.
"If the commission decides to follow our position and issue interim measures, there is a possibility that the commission will exercise its powers ... and also extend its investigation to the Italian territory," Valentino told a conference* in London.
"In this case, we will have to close our case, but we will be very happy to do so."
EU antitrust law gives the commission the power to relieve national regulators of investigations if it believes an EU-level probe is more appropriate.
Previously, Amazon has litigated a the EU courts against the commission over its failure to subsume the Italian investigation in its broader EU-level probe.
*Economist Impact 2nd Antitrust Conference, Feb. 26, 2026, London.
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