The agency wants more information about Amazon’s maneuver to hire most of the Adept team and license its technology. Adept said its plans to build “useful general intelligence and an enterprise agent product” would have required “significant attention on fundraising.” The informal inquiry might not lead to an investigation or enforcement, but enforcers are keeping close watch of tech giants and AI.
Lauren Feiner

Senior Policy Reporter
Senior Policy Reporter
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Lauren Feiner
The FTC is looking into Amazon’s deal with AI startup Adept.

The former tech investor likes the FTC’s Lina Khan and wants to break up Google, citing its liberal bias.
Lauren Feiner and Alex Heath


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Lauren Feiner
Lauren Feiner
Dark patterns are everywhere.
A group of international enforcers including the US’s Federal Trade Commission evaluated 642 websites and apps offering subscriptions. They found that almost 76% used at least one potential dark pattern — design tricks meant to steer consumers to a desired outcome — and nearly 67% used more than one possible dark pattern. The most common dark pattern they found were “sneaking practices,” where sites hide or delay information that could sway a consumer’s decision.










