Meta’s VR Win Complicates FTC’s Focus on Future-Competition Cases

The Federal Trade Commission’s bid to stifle Big Tech’s “potential competition” acquisitions suffered a setback after a federal judge approved Meta Platforms Inc.'s bid to buy VR tech developer Within Unlimited.

Judge Edward Davila’s much-anticipated decision Wednesday at the US District Court for the Northern District of California could complicate antitrust regulators’ enforcement against deals where Big Tech companies gobble up startups before they become serious competitors, antitrust analysts say.

Antitrust agencies, under the Biden administration, vowed to aggressively crack down on what they perceive to be anticompetitive conduct, including stringent oversight of Big Tech.

The FTC’s outlook for defeating ...