Us regulators apply for Court to suspend Meta's acquisition of VR Within

According to news in the morning of February 1, Beijing time, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) applied to a judge on Tuesday to suspend Meta's acquisition of virtual reality application developer Within Unlimited until the two sides waited for the court's decision.

FTC sued Meta in July last year, demanding that the acquisition of Within be stopped and that the court issue a temporary injunction on the grounds that Meta had been planning a "VR conquest" since it acquired Oculus in 2014. The case opened in December last year.

FTC wants the court to order Meta not to complete the transaction with Within until 11:59 in the evening of the first working day after the judge ruled whether the deal could go forward. Alternatively, the judge could extend the existing temporary injunction for seven days.

The current temporary ban expires at 11:59 US Pacific time on Tuesday night.

While the deal is small, it is a test for FTC. The reason is that Meta has previously secured its dominance by acquiring budding competitors, and FTC believes Meta will do the same in the VR and AR markets this time.