YCD learned that AMZ123 learned that, according to foreign media reports, on November 22, the non-profit organization Foxglove Legal stated that it had sent a letter to the British antitrust agency asking it to investigate Amazon’s plan to acquire the sweeping robot iRobot for $1.7 billion.
In the letter, Foxglove Legal accused Amazon of “unfairly using its dominant position to suppress competitors in the home consumer goods space.” It is reported that in the past few years, Amazon has become a strong player in the field of smart home technology with its Alexa voice assistant, Ring doorbell, Echo speakers and smart displays.
“Amazon maintains a leadership position in the market through continuous enhancement of voice and device capabilities. This deal with iRobot is another example of Amazon’s stifling rivals and broader competition in existing and emerging markets.” Foxglove Legal emphasized.
In response to the allegations, Amazon spokeswoman Laura Gunning Wate said in a statement that the company “is cooperating with relevant regulators as they review the transaction.”
YCD has learned that Amazon has entered into several new areas through acquisitions to further strengthen its position in the retail market. In the past year, Amazon has bought Whole Foods, health care provider OneMedical and movie and TV show studio MGM Studios.
“The acquisition of iRobot may be related to Amazon Astro, a home robot designed for home monitoring and paired with a chime alarm system. It is not difficult to see that Amazon is entering the home cleaning space,” added Foxglove Legal.
At the same time, the nonprofit also accused Amazon of using a “copy-acquire-kill” strategy, in which large companies acquire smaller companies for their technology or data and then suppress or shut down those platforms.
According to the report, Foxglove Legal is very experienced in holding technology companies accountable. Last year, the organization successfully sued Google subsidiary DeepMind for illegally using the confidential medical records of 1.6 million NHS (National Health Service, UK National Health Service) patients without authorization. It is also suing Meta with a content moderator for “facilitating human trafficking and causing poor mental health to users”.