Us antitrust authorities begin to investigate Amazon's acquisition of robot maker iRobot

According to reports in the morning of September 5, Beijing time, the US Federal Trade Commission has begun reviewing Amazon's $1.7 billion (11.764 billion yuan) acquisition of vacuum robot maker iRobot to determine whether the deal violates anti-monopoly law.

Reported that the US antitrust authorities' review of iRobot covers a wide range of areas, including both positive competition and whether the deal will illegally increase Amazon's share of the networked device market and the retail market as a whole.

Amazon declined to comment, and iRobot and the FTC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The e-commerce giant has steadily expanded its equipment lineup, introducing more speakers to showcase its Alexa voice assistant, as well as home safety doorbells and cameras from Ring, which it acquired in 2018.

In August, Amazon announced the acquisition of iRobot, the maker of robot vacuum cleaner Roomba, for $61 a share in all-cash.

The world's largest online retailer is working to expand its range of smart home devices, expand the e-commerce giant's virtual healthcare and add physical doctor offices for the first time.

In July, the online retailer agreed to buy primary care provider One Medical.

One Medical said Friday that U.S. antitrust authorities have asked the company and Amazon to provide more information about the company's acquisition by Amazon for $3.49 billion (24.151 billion yuan).