The EU has rejected Amazon’s proposal to purchase Roomba manufacturer iRobot.
The reasoning here is pretty basic, Amazon is attempting to monopolize the market, and they intend to use people's vacuum cleaners to spy on them. (Using people's vacuum cleaners to spy on them is a complete mind-fuck, innit?)
This is also important because it indicates a shift in opinion on antitrust, on that side of the Atlantic, at least:
Amazon will no longer pursue a $1.4 billion acquisition of iRobot, maker of Roomba robot vacuums after the companies announced today that they have "no path to regulatory approval in the European Union."
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Amazon's proposed acquisition of iRobot drew concern and criticism from privacy and antitrust advocates and regulators almost immediately after it hit the news. iRobot and Amazon agreed to share data with the Federal Trade Commission after the FTC began a review into how the deal might bolster Amazon's market for connected devices and retail generally. There was also concern about potential new uses for the household maps generated by robot vacuums like the Roomba, according to Politico.
iRobot, for its part, claimed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that joining Amazon would give it an "inventive, customer-centric, long-term oriented culture where entrepreneurs thrive," as well as access to "Amazon's resources and technology."
By, "Inventive, customer-centric, long-term oriented culture where entrepreneurs thrive," iRobot means that, "A thoroughly enshittified monopolist who wants to pay us fuck-tons of money."
My heart bleeds borscht for Amazon and iRobot.
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