A California judge is reportedly allowing Meta to close its acquisition of virtual reality fitness startup Within, despite an ongoing antitrust case by the Federal Trade Commission. Bloomberg reports that a pair of sealed orders deny the FTC’s request to block the deal but with a one-week delay that will give the FTC time to appeal. The orders were posted yesterday, and a status hearing on the case is set for February 7th.

The FTC sued in July of 2022 to stop Meta’s acquisition of Within, which makes the popular VR app Supernatural. The agency argued that Meta’s purchase would expand its dominance in the consumer VR market, where Meta has staked many of its resources in recent years. The commission highlighted Meta’s previous merger with...

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