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Amazon faces anti-trust investigation

by on06 September 2022


Robot take-over take down

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating Amazon’s plans to acquire robot vacuum maker iRobot and the 1Life healthcare company behind One Medical.

For those who came in late,  Amazon announced a $3.9 billion deal to buy One Medical in July and said it would acquire iRobot for $1.7 billion just weeks later.

One Medical is healthcare subscription service that gives customers access to in-person and virtual appointments at 125 clinics across the US for $199 per year. Meanwhile, iRobot’s known for its line of Roomba robot vacuums and costumed cat mobility devices. 

The acquisitions of both align with Amazon’s long-term goals of carving out its own lane in the healthcare industry and harvesting more human data than the Stasi.

The FTC’s investigations could stop Amazon’s acquisition of both companies. FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan has been a vocal critic of Amazon and its practices. Amazon pushed back against Khan’s plans to regulate the company when she first took on the role of Chairwoman, and more recently asked the FTC to limit its investigation and pursuit of testimony from current CEO Andy Jassy and former CEO Jeff Bezos, calling it “burdensome.”

However, don't hold your breath. It is election year and the US government has been particularly bad at getting Big Tech to stop being a dick with data. 

 Politico that both companies are preparing for a “potentially lengthy, arduous investigation” to see if the merger violates antitrust laws. The FTC’s investigation will reportedly focus on whether the data provided by Roomba gives Amazon an unfair advantage in the retail industry, and how the line of robot vacuums would fit in with Amazon’s existing smart home products, like Ring and Alexa.

Shortly after announcing the potential 1Life merger, Amazon said it’s shutting down its virtual health service, Amazon Care, at the end of this year. Politico points out that the FTC could see this move as anti-competitive, since Amazon is simply buying out one of Care’s potential competitors, instead of opting to compete with it.

 

Last modified on 06 September 2022
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