Federal regulators and Facebook parent Meta are battling over Meta's proposed acquisition of virtual-reality company Within Unlimited and its fitness app Supernatural.
The tech giant said in its court filing that the government failed to establish that the virtual-reality market is concentrated with high barriers to entry. The claims in the agency's lawsuit "are nothing more than the FTC's speculation about what Meta might have done," the company says. It asserts that the FTC failed to meet two key legal standards set in previous cases.
It added that it believes the complaint should be dismissed because there is "vibrant competition in the fitness space and across , and our acquisition of Within will be good for people, developers and the VR space." Under Zuckerberg's leadership, Meta began a campaign to conquer virtual reality in 2014 with its acquisition of headset maker Oculus VR. Since then, Meta's VR headsets have become the cornerstone of its growth in the virtual reality space, the FTC noted in its suit. Fueled by the popularity of its top-selling Quest headsets, Meta's Quest Store has become a leading U.S. app platform with more than 400 apps available to download, according to the agency.
Zuckerberg announced ambitious plans a year ago to build the "metaverse" -- a virtual-reality construct intended to supplant the internet, merge virtual life with real life and create endless new playgrounds for everyone.