Democrats demand FTC probe Amazon-iRobot deal

  • Thread starter Thread starter The Verge RSS
  • Start date Start date
T

The Verge RSS

Guest
Author: Makena Kelly

Illustration of the Amazon logo

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The Federal Trade Commission is facing mounting pressure to block Amazon’s proposed $1.65 billion purchase of iRobot, the company behind Roomba autonomous vacuums.

In a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan on Thursday, a group of Democratic lawmakers argued that the proposed merger would unfairly bolster Amazon’s dominance in the smart home market by acquiring one of the company’s leading competitors. They also criticized Amazon’s data privacy and security practices following past acquisitions of companies like Ring, including data sharing partnerships with over 600 law enforcement agencies across the country.

“iRobot is a powerful market incumbent, and Amazon, given its vast resources, history of producing smart vacuums… and powerful platform,...

Continue reading…

Continue reading...