backBrazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defence (Cade), through its General Superintendence, has opened an administrative inquiry into companies within the Meta group to investigate suspected abuse of a dominant market position. The inquiry concerns new WhatsApp terms governing access by artificial intelligence tool providers to the platform. According to the authority, there are indications of exclusionary anti-competitive conduct capable of affecting markets that rely on AI solutions. As a result, Cade has ordered a preventive measure suspending the application of the new terms pending a more detailed assessment.
Cade stated that the contractual changes could lead to market foreclosure, the exclusion of competitors, and the undue favouring of Meta’s own proprietary tool, Meta AI, which could become the sole option available to WhatsApp users. With the opening of the inquiry, the companies under investigation will be formally notified to provide explanations, while the General Superintendence gathers information from market participants.
At the conclusion of this preliminary phase, Cade may decide either to initiate formal administrative proceedings or to close the case. The move reflects the heightened scrutiny that competition authorities in Brazil and abroad have been applying to practices involving digital markets and artificial intelligence.
Link to the Administrative Proceeding: :: Sistema Eletrônico de Informações – Pesquisa Processual ::
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