The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has dropped its administrative case against Meta’s acquisition of virtual reality (VR) company Within. The decision comes a few weeks after a federal court denied the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction to block the acquisition. The FTC filed antitrust lawsuits in federal and in-house courts last year to prevent Meta from acquiring Within, which developed the VR workout app Supernatural, accusing the company of “trying to buy its way to the top instead of earning it on the merits.” The FTC alleged that the acquisition would stifle “future innovation and competitive rivalry” and that Meta had the resources to enter the VR fitness market by building its own app.
