The Boston Globe: As antitrust threat looms, iRobot keeps rolling with new Roomba

September 27, 2022 Media

The newest cleaning machine from Bedford-based iRobot is perhaps its most radical yet — an $1,100 robot that can transform from a floor mop to a carpet vacuum.

But as iRobot launches the new Roomba Combo j7+on Tuesday, it’s also looking over its shoulder toward Washington, where federal regulators may try to block its pending $1.7 billion acquisition by online giant Amazon.

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission asked Amazon and iRobot to provide additional details about the deal, a signal that the agency may step in to challenge the acquisition in court.

“This deal really does raise concerns,” said Krista Brown, senior policy analyst at the American Economic Liberties Project, an organization that favors more aggressive enforcement of antitrust laws. “It’s about the fact that Amazon fundamentally has too much power.”

Brown is especially worried that Amazon is interested in collecting sensitive data about millions of households that use iRobot vacuums and floor mops. These machines use artificial intelligence to create data maps of the users’ homes. Brown said that Amazon could combine this data with information about millions of online shoppers. This might tighten Amazon’s stranglehold on the online retailing market, Brown said.