The fight between the government of Biden and huge amounts of technology is spreading into the metaverse.
The Biden administration is worried that Meta has become a “virtual reality empire.” Because of this, Meta decided to put off buying a health app.
Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, tried to buy Supernatural, a virtual reality software for health and wellness made by Within Unlimited. The Federal Trade Commission complained about the deal in federal court last month and tried to stop it.
In response to a new court filing, Meta agreed to a temporary restraining order that delays the purchase until either December 31 or the first business day after a federal judge rules on the FTC’s action, whichever comes first.
The Biden administration’s attempts to stop Meta from growing its business in augmented reality hit at the heart of the internet company’s new focus on things other than social networking.
Last year, Facebook changed its name to Meta, and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced a plan to make “metaverse” products widely available in five to ten years.
In contrast to Apple and Google’s phones and computers, Mr. Zuckerberg’s “hardware,” which he called the “metaverse business,” connects and entertains people through augmented and virtual reality.
One of these Oculus items is the Meta Quest 2 digital reality headset, which costs between $399 and $499 and is an example of Meta’s “hardware.”
According to the program’s description on the Oculus website, Supernatural’s software can be used on the Meta Quest 2 device, where users can choose from more than 500 workouts.
In a news release last month, the FTC said that it was going to sue Meta because “The company’s virtual reality empire includes the best-selling gadget, a leading app store, seven of the most successful developers, and one of the best-selling apps of all time.”
The agency says that Meta and Zuckerberg are trying to buy a specialized fitness program that shows customers how to use virtual reality illegally so that Meta can grow his virtual reality business.”
The deputy director of the FTC’s division of competitors, John Newman, said that Meta was trying to “buy its way to the top” instead of “earning it on the merits.”
Meta said that the FTC’s argument in favor of its purchase was silly.
Meta vice chairman Nikhil Shanbhag said in a company blog post from last month that “the FTC’s case is based on ideology and supposition, not proof.” “It is just not possible to think that this purchase will hurt competition in an industry that is growing and changing as quickly as online and linked fitness.”
Even though Facebook’s rebranding as Meta is new, the company has been interested in the metaverse for a long time, and its business in the metaverse has been successful. Facebook bought Oculus in 2014 in a deal that Facebook said was worth about $2 billion.
In an August blog post about price changes, the virtual reality platform gave a sneak peek into how well its business was doing.
Oculus says that more than $1 billion has been spent on Meta Quest applications, which helps the businesses of the people who make the great VR games and experiences.
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