Meta faces an investigation over AI in WhatsApp
Marketplace All-in-One
Marketplace
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 4 December 2025
⏱️ 7 minutes
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Summary
From the BBC World Service: European antitrust regulators have just launched an investigation into Meta over its rollout of artificial intelligence features on WhatsApp for European users. This move marks the latest action by European regulators against large technology firms, as the trade bloc seeks to balance support for the sector with efforts to curb its expanding influence. Then, air travelers in India face continued disruptions, and Japan tries to regain a stronghold in semiconductor chip manufacturing.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Meta faces an investigation over AI in WhatsApp. Live from the UK, this is the Marketplace Morning Report from the BBC World Service. I'm William Lee Adams. Good morning. |
| 0:12.4 | European antitrust regulators have just launched an investigation into meta over its rollout of artificial intelligence features on WhatsApp for European users. |
| 0:21.4 | The BBC's James Graham has more. |
| 0:23.7 | This move marks the latest action by European regulators against large technology firms |
| 0:28.4 | as the trade bloc seeks to balance support for the sector with efforts to curb its expanding influence. |
| 0:34.1 | The European Commission said it's concerned that new policies implemented by |
| 0:38.6 | Meta for its WhatsApp AI tools may prevent rival AI providers from offering their business services |
| 0:45.3 | through WhatsApp in Europe. A WhatsApp spokesperson said that the claims are baseless, adding that the |
| 0:51.7 | emergence of chatbots on its platforms, quotes, puts a strain on |
| 0:55.9 | our systems that they are not designed to support. In the UK, I'm the BBC's James Graham for |
| 1:01.8 | Marketplace. Okay, let's do the numbers. Vodacom, South Africa's biggest mobile operator, has agreed a deal |
| 1:09.2 | to take control of SafariCom, East Africa's |
| 1:11.9 | largest telecoms provider. The deal is valued at $2.4 billion. And Japan's SoftBank will cut |
| 1:17.9 | its stake in India's InMobi as part of a $250 million buyback deal. Meanwhile, India's |
| 1:24.7 | budget airline Indigo continues to face operational disruptions with more flight cancellations and delays. |
| 1:30.6 | The BBC's Archon Ashukla is in Mumbai. |
| 1:33.1 | Travelers are facing a third straight day of disruption, with thousands stranded at airports across India. |
| 1:38.9 | Indigo, the biggest player in the domestic market, cancelled more than 150 flights on Wednesday and a similar number again today. |
| 1:45.7 | The airline has apologised, saying the chaos stems from tighter flight time limits intended to reduce pilot fatigue. |
| 1:52.4 | Technical glitches, new winter schedules and poor weather were also blamed. |
| 1:56.2 | But the Pilots Federation says the disruption was avoidable, arguing that Indigo failed to prepare for the new restrictions which came into effect from November 1st. |
| 2:05.7 | Archina Shukla. Staying in India, Russia's President Putin is in the country for two days of talks, expected to focus on trade. |
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