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WhatsApp now allows limited free access to Meta’s AI rival chatbots

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Meta Platforms has promised to give competing AI chatbots, including OpenAI, free access to its social messaging service WhatsApp in Europe but would start charging them once they reach a limit.

The previously unknown offer details come as Mark Zuckerberg’s digital and social media company, which also controls Facebook, seeks to placate increasingly severe EU authorities that are squeezing Big digital.

Meta handed its proposal to EU antitrust watchdogs last week after the European Commission indicated it was exploring a demand that the corporation grant rivals access to WhatsApp until it concludes an ongoing probe in the case.

Neither side disclosed details of the offer.

The Commission has not yet decided whether to accept Meta’s offer and interested parties had until May 18 to provide feedback, the persons added.

Once competitor AI chatbots hit a limit in terms of messages sent to users, Meta will start charging them, the two individuals claimed.

The wider case shows how the EU enforcer is seeking to ensure competition in emerging digital sectors by stopping Big Tech from gaining market power or blocking smaller rivals.

The Commission declined to comment, stressing its objective is to keep the developing market of AI assistants free and competitive for entrepreneurs.

It said Meta’s offer should give scope for additional talks to address its concerns.

Meta repeated previous comments that it has provided access to competing AI chatbots in Europe to WhatsApp business Application Programming Interface (API) free of charge for a month while it tries to settle the problem with EU regulators.

An API is a form of software interface that specifies how two software systems will communicate.

Smaller rivals, too, indicated they were unimpressed.

The Interaction Company of California, creator of the AI helper Poke.com, and French startup Agentik, ⁠both of which had complained to the Commission, dismissed Meta’s offer.

“Unfortunately, Meta’s current proposal is no where near addressing any of the competition concerns identified in this case,” The Interaction Company of California said.

“If Meta does not come forward with a truly constructive proposal without delay, we urge the Commission to proceed with the interim measures,” he added.

“Meta’s offer is discriminatory towards its competitors. “Meta’s own AI would be excluded,” says Jeremy Andre, founder of Agentik.

But Meta’s AI chatbot does not use WhatsApp’s API.

Meta had a policy in place in January that allowed only its Meta AI assistant on WhatsApp and then revised it in March to suggest rivals could use the social messaging service for a price.

That led to a second charge sheet from the EU watchdog, causing the company to suspend fees for a month while it examined its proposal with the Commission.

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Ivory Coast is eliminated from the 2026 World Cup by Norway

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  • Erling Haaland grabbed a thrilling late victory as Norway knocked Ivory Coast out of the 2026 World Cup qualifying.

Haaland had been invisible for much of the game but turned up when it mattered most to score his fifth goal of the tournament and send Norway through.

Norway had taken the lead in the first half after a stunning curling drive from Antonio Nusa, only for Manchester United’s Amad Diallo to equalise with a spectacular solo effort.

Norway will now take against Brazil in New York on July 5 for a place in the quarter-finals.

Erling Haaland has taken his goalscoring inevitability to the World Cup stage.

The 25-year-old has scored in 14 successive competitive matches for Norway, registering 22 goals in that sequence of contests.

His job tonight was simple, slotting into an empty net from 6 yards to extend the run, but as any good striker he deserves credit for getting into that position. Norway have scored in the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time since 1938.

The scorer of that goal in 1938 was Arne Brustad, who was born on the same day that the Titanic hit an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean.

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Tomorrow, Iran’s deputy foreign minister will meet with representatives from Qatar in Doha.

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The deputy foreign minister of Rwanda will visit Doha on Wednesday to discuss regional trends and the implementation of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Qatari authorities, according to the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ministry said in a statement that work on putting the MoU’s many provisions into practice is still ongoing.

It further stated that Tehran has seen favorably recent developments in lifting the blockade and loosening limitations on the selling of Iranian oil.

The ministry stated that the fulfillment of Article 13 of the memorandum is deemed crucial for the success of the negotiations and that a final deal is still dependent on the end of the war in Lebanon.

Establishing an efficient ceasefire system in Lebanon is crucial to laying the groundwork for enduring peace, according to Iranian authorities.

The foreign ministry added that diplomatic efforts are still being made to address the ongoing conflict in Lebanon and that attempts are being made to monitor and handle the situation with the utmost seriousness.

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Report on the Lack of Formal System for Registration of Home Tuition Centres

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The district administration has received the Education Authority Lahore’s investigation report on the roof collapse of a tuition center in the Kahna area.

The report claims that the tuition center was set up in a house and had no official government registration. The woman was instructing her relatives’ kids in secret.

According to the investigation, between 25 and 30 kids were enrolled in classes at the tuition center when the disaster occurred.

Tariq Mahmood, CEO of the Education Authority of Lahore, claims that there is no official procedure for registering home-based tuition centers. The Education Department is not even responsible for registering private tuition centers that operate in residential residences.

In light of the tragedy where 14 children died after the center’s roof collapsed, the district administration will decide the next course of action and potential actions, according to the article.

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