Beginning on Thursday in a courtroom in San Jose, California, federal officials will begin their effort to stop Facebook parent Meta’s acquisition of a virtual reality firm.
The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit to block Meta’s acquisition of Within Unlimited and its fitness program Supernatural, claiming it will harm competition and violate antitrust rules. This is a landmark judicial challenge to a Big Tech merger.
Despite claiming that the United States had not demonstrated that the virtual reality industry is highly consolidated and subject to entry restrictions, Meta Platforms Inc.’s request to have the lawsuit dismissed was denied.
The FTC updated its complaint in October to emphasize its allegations after Meta contended that the case featured “little more than the FTC’s speculation about what Meta might have done.”
The transaction was blocked during the summer by FTC Chair Lina Khan, the other two Democratic commissioners, and two Republicans.
Following its 2020 antitrust lawsuit against Facebook seeking remedies that may include a forced spinoff of Instagram and WhatsApp or a restructuring of the company, the FTC has taken a more assertive stance, which is reflected in the Within case.
Although CEO Mark Zuckerberg was dismissed from the case as a defendant in August, he is still scheduled to appear in court.
2014 saw the launch of Meta’s virtual reality conquest drive under Zuckerberg’s direction when it acquired headgear manufacturer Oculus VR.
The FTC claimed in its lawsuit that since then, Meta’s VR headsets have evolved into the core of its development in the virtual reality industry. According to the agency, Meta’s Quest Store has developed into a major U.S. platform with more than 400 apps available for download, driven by the popularity of its best-selling Quest headsets.
