Zuckerberg testifies against allegations by the FTC saying Meta is anti-competitive
Meta is losing billions of dollars each quarter and is attempting to buy their way to the top
Meta, decided to pay for market position rather than acquire it by merit
Meta initially intended to complete the purchase of Within before the new year
Zuckerburg is defending himself saying he is more interested in social, gaming and productivity use cases than VR for health
The CEO and founder of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, gave testimony at a hearing on Tuesday regarding Meta’s acquisition of Within, the VR company that developed the fitness software Supernatural. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Meta in July claiming that it was anti-competitive.
The hearing’s timing is risky, as Meta is working to bring VR mainstream and its corporate stock is declining. The company is also rebounding from 11,000 layoffs, or 13% of its workforce.
Investors are concerned about Zuckerberg’s ambitions, Meta is losing billions of dollars every quarter due to its VR initiatives, and its revenue is declining.
Hal Singer, who testified for the FTC during the seven-day hearing mentioned that fitness is the cornerstone to owning VR.
Within’s Supernatural app directly competes with Beat Saber according to the FTC, which is a well-known VR rhythm game that some people use to exercise.
Beat Games, the company behind Beat Saber, was purchased by Meta in 2019. Even Oculus, the hardware supplier for Meta’s high-end Quest headsets, joined the group in 2014 after being bought out for $2 billion. The specifics of the Beat Games contract as well as the terms of Within purchase by Meta were kept under wraps.
John Newman, Deputy Director of the FTC Bureau of Competition states that instead of competing on merits, Meta is trying to buy their way to the top. With the potential to rival Within’s popular Supernatural app even more more aggressively, Meta already has a highly regarded VR workout app.
When the FTC called Zuckerberg to the witness, the government’s attorneys provided email exchanges from March 2021, before Meta rebranded from Facebook, that implied a connection between Beat Saber and Peloton.
Zuckerberg testified that a cooperation between Beat Saber and Peloton would be impractical given the current financial situation of Meta.
Zuckerberg claims that he is more interested in social, gaming and productivity use cases for VR than he is in health. Meta introduced their powerful headset recently designed for remote work called Quest Pro.
