Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and five members of the House of Representatives are calling on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to block Amazon’s proposed acquisition of iRobot, the company that produces the popular Roomba cleaning robots.
As reported by Breitbart News’ Lucas Nolan, the deal is already under scrutiny at the FTC, and comes during an atmosphere of greater attention on the growing power of tech companies, and concerns about their anticompetitive behavior.
“Given our concerns with Amazon’s anticompetitive policies that put consumers and their privacy at risk, we urge the FTC to oppose the proposed Amazon-iRobot acquisition,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter, which Axios reported earlier Thursday.
The deal, announced in August, was already under scrutiny from the FTC. The agency made a second request for information from both Amazon and iRobot as part of its review of the deal. The request extends the review process and indicates a higher level of scrutiny. The company is also in the process of acquiring One Medical, a primary care provider with in-person and telehealth services. The FTC has also made a second request for information in that deal.
The scrutiny comes as lawmakers worry about tech companies extending their reach into ever more markets. They’re considering a slate of antitrust legislation aimed at Big Tech companies. The FTC is chaired by Lina Khan, an antitrust reformer who wrote a legal analysis Amazon’s potential monopoly powers. The agency is running a broader probe into Amazon’s practices, as well as an examination of Amazon’s planned merger with MGM.”
In a statement, Amazon pushed back on Warren’s letter, calling it “broadly inaccurate” with “a number of falsehoods.”
“We will continue to cooperate with regulators, and we are confident that this deal is pro-competitive and will make customers’ lives better and easier.”
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election.