FTC

so-whyareyouhere

Where is the FTC

Nuggis4life

It probably wont go through no. Paramount (Larry Ellisonk) is a big Trump donor and cheerleader so let the corruption begin. (this probably shouldn’t clear the FTC anyways due to monopoly reasons but that won’t be why it’s blocked).

TooBoredToLiveLife

I mean he should have said FTC not DOJ, odds of blocking the merger is much higher with FTC then DOJ

shasta747

Wonder if they will use their influence to have FTC blocks the deal

tragedy_strikes

I've been swayed on the idea that the tech companies are chasing the dragons of the iPhone/smartphone sales for physical hardware and SAAS for software. Wallstreet wants to see continual growth except the tech sector had already saturated both hardware and software markets around 2015. They had 2 non-shitty (for consumer) options, expand the customer base (think Google Fiber, Google Fi, Facebook Zero) or deploy new consumer hardware (Metaverse, Apple Vision Pro). Those were expensive and/or time consuming so they gave up and pivoted to enshittification. Degrade the product experience to get more money out of their existing product or service; more ads (all social media), worse search results (Google search), ignore recommendation for product safety (17 strikes on Instagram for human trafficking, Roblox ignoring pedophiles using their service), turn everything into a ponzi scheme (crypto, NFTs) or gambling. They're only able to do this because they've achieved regulatory capture and should have been broken up already by the FTC. Facebook shouldn't have been allowed to buy Instagram or WhatsApp, Google search is absolutely a monopoly and should have a bunch of their divisions spun off (Chrome, Gmail, AdSense) or forced open (Playstore was but App store should be as well).

DopeBook

Calls through the FTC approval date?

BosSF82

The 'Flix-Warner deal is no done deal, from a government approval standpoint. Larry Ellison had been whispering into Mungo's ear how Paramount would use CNN as a new propaganda arm for Trump (see article), and now that won't happen, cuz his bratty son got cucked by David Zaslav. President Parasite could very well tell his culties, now serving in the FTC or DOJ, to block it. On the other hand, regulators in Europe could be more willing to approve than they otherwise would, given that CNN would remain independent, even though in normal times that probably wouldn't even be taken into consideration. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/20/warner-bros-discovery-takeover-paramount-skydance-larry-ellison

sd42790

Off the top of my head…Capri and Tapestry was blocked by FTC earlier this year. Obviously not as big as Netflix/Warner, but significant at $8.5bn. Also Albertsons/Kroger was blocked, which was a $25bn deal.

Kotschcus_Domesticus

FTC where?

Wiestie

But the CEO gets a massive payout from this deal after year of mismanagement anyway yaaaay corporations Barely a prayer the FTC blocks this on merit but maybe someone will bribe them enough to stop it.

Th3HappyCamper

I’m anticipating the FTC blocking it somehow since the merger would be a huge blow to the Heritage Foundation

Wyldefire6

Absolutely not with this administration. Netflix can easily “make it worth their while” to expedite to the head of the line. I’d say 12-18 mo is accurate if only just to iron out the details. I doubt we’ll hear any pushback from the FTC or SEC.

SecretaryAncient8923

FTC will likely not allow the sale, so be careful about buying the stock based on that information alone.

hamsterkill

The Microsoft-Activision merger had a weaker anti-competitive argument than this would. But you're right, this one would probably make it through a court challenge too. Streaming market consolidation, I imagine, would be the main anti-competition concern and Disney existing would be the counter. That said, a Democratic FTC would likely be able to at least extract more concessions and divestments from the companies in the process.

Infinite-4-a-moment

>FTC will likely tie up in litigation for years Doubt. There will be a convenient civil suit between Trump and Netflix for some bullshit. Netflix will pay Trump $50m and then the deal will get rubber stamped the next month.

ThatsTodd

So does NFLX stock go up or down when the FTC announces they are challenging the acquisition?

Suitable_Air_2686

Me thinks people are too pessimistic about this. Netflix can probably spin off the shit out of Game of Thrones, Sopranos, True Detective, Hary Potter, Friends, DC, etc. The only hurdle I see is regulatory approval. Elison has the presidency in pocket so it’s not totally inconceivable that he gives a call to Donnie and FTC goes ahead and blocks this deal.

baseballer213

Zaslav securing $30 a share for just the studio and streaming assets is a masterclass in failing upwards. This effectively creates a content monopoly that the FTC will likely tie up in litigation for years. Don’t hold your breath for that combined library; Reed just bought himself a regulatory nightmare.

_BreakingGood_

They do need to pretend that there won't be job cuts anymore, the current FTC gets hard over the idea of ultra-mega-corporations that control entire industries

DropoutDreamer

To talk about Trump appearing in Rush Hour 4 right? Nothing improper like asking him to tell FTC to block the merger?

JerrySeinfred

Lina Khan isn't head of the FTC anymore. 

Lt_Snuffles

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ceased its focus on structural issues and exclusively concentrated on the impact of price changes since the Reagan era. As long as they refrain from raising prices for the relevant services, they are good. you can read Lina Khan’s “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox.”

Waste-Milk2716

This idea that companies “don’t give 2 fucks about liability” is pure fantasy-level corporate ignorance. Liability is the one thing corporations obsess over because it can instantly wipe out every penny they’d save by firing workers. You don’t replace employees with automated systems and gamble the entire company on an AI hallucinating a fraud, misfiling a return, tanking a financial report, or violating a regulation. Corporations spend more on legal, compliance, internal audit, external audit, insurance, and risk management than on entire product lines. If they truly didn’t care about liability, those departments wouldn’t exist. They won’t trade predictable human error for unpredictable machine-generated legal exposure. That’s not ethics; it’s basic cost–risk analysis. The take also treats enterprise AI deployment like it’s as simple as slapping some RLHF and custom data on top and calling it a day. Real companies aren’t Kaggle competitions. They deal with compliance frameworks, audit trails, data provenance, cybersecurity risks, SOX controls, GDPR, industry-specific regulations, and the constant threat of regulators crawling up their spine if something goes wrong. You don’t just plug an LLM into accounting, HR, claims processing, procurement, or financial reporting and let it run. Enterprises need verifiable outputs, non-hallucinatory reasoning, version control, interpretability, and airtight monitoring systems. The engineering, integration, and compliance burden makes the “just replace everyone” fantasy collapse the moment it touches actual corporate infrastructure. And claiming liability only matters in law and medicine is hilariously disconnected from reality. Finance is full of fraud exposure and misstatement risk. HR has discrimination and wrongful-termination risk. Marketing deals with FTC violations. Insurance involves bad-faith claim exposure. Engineering has product safety and defect liability. Customer service can trigger misrepresentation lawsuits. Accounting deals with criminal and civil penalties for improper reporting. Every white-collar field is built on top of liability mines. Automating these roles doesn’t remove those mines; it puts a blindfolded robot in charge of stepping on all of them at once. AI will absolutely replace jobs over time, but pretending liability isn’t a major bottleneck is delusional. Liability, regulation, and risk management are the backbone of corporate decision-making, and current AI systems multiply those risks rather than reduce them. Companies aren’t hiding some secret plan to fire everyone. They’re just operating in the real world while Reddit commentators role-play as doomsday prophets.

JJgoodluck

They are doing that to avoid antitrust investigation from FTC, also to neutralize the bargaining power from hyperscalers. It’s obvious.

sun_not_cold

Yes. I sold at $165 during the FTC threats. Had to buy back in at $190. I’m dum.

moorhound

Gotta hit up your local plam-reading psychic lady. Every town has one, mandated by the FTC

Alarmed_Expression77

What happens when FTC/DOJ Antitrust decides they don’t like the amount of power GOOG has? You think it’s just like a $50 speeding ticket? I’m not talking about a fine, I’m talking about a DOJ that might be pissed at certain CEO’s tripping over themselves to appease the orange man.

caughtinthought

this was prior to FTC uncertainty collapsed, and 2.5 while good was still inferior to Sonnet and GPT.

Gom_KBull

(i wrote this on Nov 12) *✅ Market realizes there's no way to hide the fact that these absurd valuations are nothing but smoke and mirrors.* *✅ Market crashes either by total widespread liquidity crunch or through catalyst/smokescreen.* *3. Govt cant afford to lose AI race to China, so it bails out Scam Altman and everyone in the AI circlejerk with taxpayer money + emergency QE (further devaluing all cash by a metric assload)* *4. Jerome Powell hailed as a hero by Senate and House Representatives for "courageously" saving the economy when tech companies, through no fault of their own, fell into a crisis.* *5. Mainstream media blames the poor, blue collar workers, immigrants and teachers for what happened somehow.* *6. FTC, SEC, House Committee on Oversight and maybe DOJ want someone's head for all this.* *7. AI circlejerk companies single out a fall guy to serve time in prison while everyone else gets away richer.* *8. Mango takes credit for saving America.* *9. Govt swears fraud of this level will never ever happen again, pinky swear.*

flutasma

If it was useless under Obama and Biden (biden that actually appointed a kick ass FTC chair, I will give him that) why would you thik the SEC would do anything under Trump? lmao

blonde-bandit

And they JUST won an antitrust case against the FTC. The guardrails are nonexistent and the people in power dgaf

Leungal

I'm genuinely confused by this statement considering: A) Nvidia's rise had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with companies paying $30000 a pop for H100s in 2020. B) The FTC has never taken an enforcement action against Nvidia during any administration, the ARM acquisition wasn't really blocked on FTC grounds but rather just failed negotations. C) The only way politics have affected Nvidia whatsoever is Trump's trade war causing a pullback in Chinese purchases, something Jensen has repeatedly warned about.

Bloated_Plaid

Not sure if you know who the president is but Trump is the best President Nvidia could have asked for to help with the AI mission unlike Biden and Lina Khan at the FTC.

JefeDiez

I'm actually surprised it keeps dropping $10+/day. Even with the good news of winning FTC case. Not sure what's happening

Clear_Anything1232

FTC needs to be disbanded They are seriously hurting american economy and leadership And more importantly my leaps 😑 We already have the EU to do all this fining and stuff, no need for one more useless corporation

dapi331

I agree. The time to block the acquisitions was when the FTC decided to approve it. Not after the acquisitions became successful.

JefeDiez

MSFT acquired Blizzard though? And many more companies and wasn't at all involved in this trial, the FTC approved the sale of IG to Facebook at the time already, I'm actually surprised they even approved it to go to trial, but I don't think they had a case unfortunately.

Masterandcomman

Neo-Brandeisian anti-trust treats concentrated markets as inherently bad, even if consumers currently benefit. Lina Khan is probably the most famous adherent, and her paper on Amazon argued that consumer welfare disguises distortions in the market structure that prevent new entrants, and that reduce the bargaining powers of suppliers and workers. A company like Costco wouldn't be subject to mainstream anti-trust review, but would be viewed as a violator under neo-Brandeisian theory due to their use of market power to aggressively squeeze suppliers, including inducing suppliers to funnel their products through the Kirkland brand. The FTC tries to apply the Robinson-Patman act to prevent dominant sellers from bargaining idiosyncratically low prices, even to the consumer's benefit.

F705TY

This is less about Meta being right and more about Trump destroying the FTC.

copingstoic

I think buyers will come in tomorrow after the FTC news.

copingstoic

Man, if META had lost that FTC lawsuit, it would have true capitulation today.

dreggers

GOOG beats FTC and moons 80%, META beats FTC and is flat for the day

smellyfingernail

This was the stupidest antitrust case of all time. I cant believe the FTC tried to retroactively punish meta for buying instagram when everything was approved at the time of the purchase.

copingstoic

META defeats FTC. No movement in stock. What the fuck?

meltbox

YouTube and TikTok are alternatives to Facebook? Maybe you can argue TikTok and Instagram compete but that doesn’t preclude having outsized or even monopoly power in the market. It’s commonly understood monopoly power doesn’t necessitate a majority market share let alone complete domination. These judges are being thick or the FTC threw this case on purpose given their current priorities and the shit going on in Washington. But seriously anyone who says that Meta or Google don’t have essentially monopoly pricing power in the ad market are insane.

MajorLeeScrewed

Don’t think anyone thought the FTC would win this.

Amyndris

The real issue is because the FTC was so anti-merger, it caused a lot of acquihires where a big company like Google, Microsoft or Meta would just basically license the IP from a company, hire all of their senior staff and let the rest of the company die. This really fucked over most of the people at the startup who joined at low pay with the promise of a payout when the company got acquired or IPO'd.

IDFCommitsGenocide

it's not so much about zuck as it is about Linda Khan's FTC being overly prosecutorial

virtual_adam

So this Yale researcher wrote a cool white paper about how big tech evil. Let’s make her the head of the FTC Maybe another Yale researcher should write a paper about this failed excitement

JayWhizz007

$META going to pump. They just won the FTC ANTITRUST TRIAL OVER INSTAGRAM, WHATSAPP DEALS

Winning-Goal4484

Meta wins FTC antitrust trial that focused on WhatsApp, Instagram : CBNC

mrdethato

What’s the news? FTC trial?

HaveTwoBananas

Once the FTC trial decision drops for META it's going back above $700

Complex-Note-5274

at least financially. Doesnt matter the technology, their AI infrastructure has only one competitor, that's great for pricing power (especially the weak FTC antitrust enforcement - and by weak I mean bribe-able)

Long-Blood

No mention of the 10 billion meta made from fraud? How many big tech companies are making money from illegal activities right now?  How long will Trumps FTC just let this happen?

Consistent-Chapter-8

If Lina Khan were still at the FTC, she'd have a field day with this.

kaapooj

FTC investigation is focused on how proxy advisers steer investors on climate, ESG issues The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis violated antitrust laws through their business of guiding shareholder votes on contentious topics, people familiar with the matter said.

Gom_KBull

*1. Market realizes there's no way to hide the fact that these absurd valuations are nothing but smoke and mirrors.* *2. Market crashes either by total widespread liquidity crunch or through catalyst/smokescreen.* *3. Govt cant afford to lose AI race to China, so it bails out Scam Altman and everyone in the circlejerk with taxpayer money.* *4. Jerome Powell hailed as a hero by Senate and House Representatives for "courageously" saving the economy when tech companies, through no fault of their own, fell into a crisis.* *5. Mainstream media blames the poor, blue collar workers, immigrants and teachers for what happened somehow.* *6. FTC, SEC, House Committee on Oversight and maybe FBI want someone's head for all this.* *7. AI circlejerk companies single out a fall guy to serve time in prison while everyone gets away richer.* *8. Mango takes credit for saving America.* *9. Govt swears fraud of this level will never ever happen again, pinky swear.* **We're not even at Step 1 yet.**

Striking-Block5985

PROFIT TRADE appears to be registered in an offshore jurisdiction but does not hold licenses from top-tier regulators like the FCA, ASIC, or CySEC. Any claims suggesting oversight by these authorities are misleading. Unregulated brokers pose significant risks, including no client fund protection, limited transparency, and absence of dispute resolution mechanisms. Basically what they could be doing is saying you have a profit on your tardes and diosplaying bogus opruons psoition even showing profits and is all just simulation. Whne in fact your options is not executing on the cboe or any exchange. They are taking in your money and trying to get you to add even more funds as they build fake trust no actual tardes are taking place at all. There have been examples of this happening with offshore "brokers" before Unlicensed brokers thrive in 2025’s digital economy, often vanishing after collecting funds. **How to recognize unlicensed binary options brokers** includes absence from CFTC registries, as many binary platforms were flagged in Investopedia’s 2025 updates. For example, unregistered binary options scams targeted Canadians, per OSC alerts from earlier years extending into 2025 trends. **Legal actions against scam brokers** have resulted in permanent bans. Data shows unlicensed entities account for 40% of reported frauds. Always verify licensing before engaging. Offshore operations add layers of complexity and risk. **Common traits of offshore scam brokers** involve anonymous teams and difficult jurisdictions for recovery. The FTC’s 2025 reports on fraud in states like Florida noted offshore brokers defrauding locals through binary and forex schemes. **Alternatives to risky brokers** suggest sticking to onshore regulated firms. Global enforcement actions recovered $8.2 billion in 2024-2025, per SEC. Jurisdiction issues make these scams particularly insidious. Pyramid schemes masquerading as brokers recruit aggressively. **Warning signs of pyramid scheme brokers** focus on downline building over actual trading. White & Case’s 2025 insights on non-competes indirectly relate to broader multi-level frauds in trading. **Victim stories** from affected traders reveal devastating losses. FTC’s permanent bans in e-commerce scams mirror this structure. Avoid any emphasis on recruitment. Try getting your money out after having deposited it. Thats one basic true test and even then I'd be very wary of them. THIS IS VERY LIKELY A SCAM - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

No-Shine-9280

FTC should be knocking anytime

Rushmore9

PFE won. The FTC helped a little

Degenerate_Ape_92

Same company who lied to it's consumers & was ordered to pay $62 million.. Even after a new CEO & complete revamp of the company, I'm still going to pass. [FTC Lawsuit ](https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/C4777OpendoorFinalConsentPackage.pdf)

Asleep_Swordfish8896

If you ever paid for Amazon prime in last 6 years you can get 51$ refund by saying you tried to cancel between 2019-2025 or saying you signed up for membership without realizing and it automatically charging you. Everything sold on amazon prime, is also sold on eBay but it’s cheaper on eBay, and there no membership!!? If you been paying Amazon prime since it’s 2005 $79 annual adoption to this month which now costs 139$ per year for the standard membership! Your paying a subscription to pay more for your stuff, kinda like Costco but the deals are bad Check eligibility: You may be eligible for a refund of up to $51 if you are a US-based Amazon Prime customer who signed up between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025, through certain enrollment flows or if you unsuccessfully tried to cancel during that period. Automatic refunds: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will process eligible refunds automatically by December 25, 2025. No need to contact the FTC: You do not need to contact the FTC to receive your refund, and they will never ask for a fee to get a refund.

PuzzledArrival

I appreciate the response, but I left out some details that frankly don't matter to this specific question...Here, I'm only asking for input on the wash sale, since that something I haven't faced before. * I live overseas, and benefit from FEIE, and sometimes FTC. My MAGI is too high for a straight to Roth contribution, and I'm covered by an employer pension, so I have to make a non-deductible TIRA. No issue here, I did it years ago. * I don't have any issue not deducting the TIRA. I never intended to deduct anything. Call it a loophole, but my situation on investing as an non-resident US citizen is quite punitive, so the backdoor Roth is a loophole I will take advantage of. * In earlier years, I did this with brokerage A. I contributed to a TIRA, and always converted the full amount. I'm aware of the pro-rata rule. * in between, my income fluctuated, and in some years I didn't have earned income, so couldn't contribute to any IRA, and now I'm earning more. I can resume. * This year, I am doing it with brokerage B. Maybe I should have converted before making any investment decisions, but I didn't foresee the withholding issue as a problem. Anyway, converting in-kind shouldn't be an issue. I will anyways convert the entire TIRA. * But now, brokerage B seems to have this weird withholding requirement (which might be due to my non-US residence.. I'm not sure). I'm going to call them again tomorrow - maybe speak to another agent. If I can get around the withholding topic, then the whole thing here is moot. Or, I sell other shares - but I will fight the withholding as hard as I can....

Away_Swim4614

The owners of the company, the law, you know... Reality The board would get sued into oblivion by shareholders and put in jail by the SEC and FTC.

Apex-Editor

There are two ways for expats to file taxes with the IRS. (Maybe there are more but these are the ones that generally apply). They are the FEIE and the FTC. The first is a tax exclusion. It converts your taxable income into non-taxable income up to a limit. I don't recall it because it's higher than I make, but something in the 80k+ range. It might make sense under certain circumstances. The FTC is a tax *credit*, not an exemption, which means it looks at the taxes you already paid to your host country, and the IRS doesn't tax you for that amount. If you move to a country with higher taxes, you would effectively owe nothing. The benefit of the FTC is that the taxes remain officially classified as taxable income, which means you can still contribute to your Roth IRA. For example, Germany taxes me 36% of my income. The US would only tax me 22% in the same income bracket. So the US doesn't actually charge anything because I already paid it to Germany. This could vary by country, as the US has different tax treaties. I can only speak for Germany and Spain. A traditional Roth requires you to have earned the 7k (or whatever you contribute) from a US source. This could be rental property, a job, or simply time spent working within the US borders, even if you have a foreign employer or are a freelancer. I don't have a trad IRA, and don't work in the US, so I'm limited to a Roth. The FTC is generally a better choice for people who want to contribute to a Roth and live in a high-tax country. The FEIE can be better for higher earners who live in lower tax countries. But then the IRA is out completely. I do not have a 401k and will not qualify for US social security because I did not work there long enough to earn it. When you do, you will be taxed on that as well in your host country. I do have both a public and private pension in Germany which will be small but supplementary. So sadly idk how the ladder thing works. I'm still something like 70% US, 30% intl. I keep SGOV for ballast, savings, and emergency. I don't have additional bonds as I want to minimize income from investments while I'm still working to avoid tax drag in *two* countries. I work with Fidelity because I still have a US bank account and address and don't want to give up US investment vehicles until they pry them from my cold, dead, greedy capitalistic hands.

ReasonEcstatic7417

For sure. Yet before Pfizer's announcement to sue Metsera and Novo (for Novo having the better offer buying Metsera out), FTC gave early approval for Pfizer and market showed no reaction. Looks like everybody trying to make Pfizer look competitive again very desperately. Let's see how market is gonna react next week, also there is earnings call on Tuesday (I think).

fredditf

$AMZN | Amazon Q3’25 Earnings Highlights 🔹 Net Sales: $180.17B (Est. $177.82B) 🟢; +13% YoY 🔹 EPS: $1.95 (Est. $1.58) 🟢 🔹 AWS: $33.01B (Est. $32.4B) 🟢; +20% YoY - Growing at pace haven't seen since 2022 Q4 Guidance 🔹 Net Sales: $206.0B–$213.0B (Est. $208.45B) 🟢; implies +10% to +13% YoY; ~+190 bps FX tailwind 🔹 Operating Income: $21.0B–$26.0B (vs. $21.2B in Q4’24) Segment 🔹 Online Stores Net Sales: $67.41B (Est. $66.93B) 🟢; UP +9.8% YoY 🔹 Physical Stores Net Sales: $5.58B (Est. $5.56B) 🟢; UP +6.7% YoY 🔹 3P Seller Services Net Sales: $42.49B (Est. $42.05B) 🟢; UP +12% YoY 🔹 Subscription Services Net Sales: $12.57B (Est. $12.49B) 🟢; UP +11% YoY 🔹 North America Net Sales: $106.27B (Est. $104.96B) 🟢; UP +11% YoY 🔹 International Net Sales: $40.90B (Est. $40.77B) 🟢; UP +14% YoY Other Metrics 🔹 Operating Income: $17.42B (Est. $19.72B) 😕 🔹 Operating Margin: 9.7% (Est. 11.1%)😕 🔹 Fulfillment Expense: $27.68B (Est. $27.49B) 🔴; UP +12% YoY 🔹 Seller Unit Mix: 62% (Est. 60.7%) 🟢 🔹 Operating Income includes special charges: ~$2.5B (FTC settlement) and ~$1.8B (severance); ex-charges OI ≈ $21.7B 🔹 Net Income: $21.2B (vs. $15.3B YoY) 🔹 TTM Operating Cash Flow: $130.7B; UP +16% YoY 🔹 TTM Free Cash Flow: $14.8B (down YoY, driven by higher capex) CEO Commentary 🔸 “We continue to see strong momentum across Amazon as AI drives meaningful improvements in every corner of our business.” 🔸 “AWS is re-accelerating to ~20% YoY with strong demand in AI and core infrastructure as we add capacity.”

Humble-Cantaloupe-73

The Trillion-Dollar Text Box: Why OpenAI’s IPO Is the Mother of All Hype Bubbles Reuters breathlessly reports that OpenAI? (yes, the outfit that sells you a blinking cursor for $20 a month) is “laying groundwork” for a $1 trillion IPO, potentially as soon as late 2026. Let that sink in: a company burning $15 billion this year, with no path to profit, wants to be valued like Apple + Tesla combined. Their CFO, Sarah Friar (ex-Nextdoor, the ghost town of social apps), whispers 2027 to insiders while bankers salivate over a $60 billion raise. This isn’t a business plan; it’s a heist dressed in PowerPoint. The product? A text box. The moat? Habit. The switching cost? Zero. Grok, ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek: they’re all the fucking same. If one charges a penny more, we bolt. Coca-Cola owned childhood; Ducati owns my midlife crisis. OpenAI owns nothing but our muscle memory. Brand dominance? In LLMs, that’s a punchline. Google flipped the script in 48 hours with Gemini 1.5. DeepSeek will do it next week at 1/10th the price. The only “loyalty” here is the laziness of not opening a new tab. The Moat Is a Mirage. It’s Already Crumbling OpenAI’s supposed superpowers? data, feedback loops, “human preference alignment”; are commodity slop. Reddit, arXiv, and the open web are scraped by everyone. xAI slurps X in real time. Anthropic trains on constitutional principles any intern can copy. The only path to lock-in is enterprise plumbing: APIs jammed into Slack, Salesforce, Figma with memory, permissions, and audit trails that CIOs pay to avoid rebuilding. Microsoft tries this with Copilot ($30/user/month bolted to O365), but it’s fragile as glass Slack can swap in Claude tomorrow. Consumers? Doomed. The second a Chinese open-weight model matches o3 at $0.01 per million tokens, every non-technical user jumps. Price is quality in this game. A $0.10 token premium is as defensible as a Blockbuster late fee. Meanwhile, OpenAI bleeds $20 billion annually on capex just to stay in the race. NVIDIA makes 75% margins selling the picks and shovels. OpenAI? Negative gross margins on inference. This isn’t a tech company; it’s a government-subsidized science project. Regulatory “Moats” Are Just Handcuffs in Disguise The last-ditch bull case: regulation will save them. EU AI Act, U.S. safety mandates, “certified” models with audit trails? As if : only Big Tech can comply, right? Wrong. That turns OpenAI into a regulated utility, not a growth stock. You’ll pay $20/month not because ChatGPT is better, but because your insurer demands it. Congratulations: you’ve built ConEd for chatbots. Meanwhile, the FTC is probing, copyright lawsuits stack $100 billion in contingent risk, and Sam Altman’s 2023 boardroom coup still reeks of governance rot. A non-profit shell still looms over the cap table like a guillotine. Employees will bail when RSUs dilute at $1 trillion. This isn’t a company; it’s a legal Jenga tower waiting for one wrong move. $1 Trillion? That’s Not Valuation; That’s Delusion Crunch the numbers: $15–20 billion 2026 revenue, 50–67x sales, 500x EBITDA (if any), capex eating 100%+ of revenue. NVIDIA trades at 35x with $100 billion FCF. Meta at 9x with 40% margins. Even peak-2021 Tesla was “only” 25x unprofitable sales. OpenAI at $1 trillion is priced for AGI yesterday. Fair value? $600 billion base case (15x $40 billion 2027 revenue). Bear case: $160 billion. The $1 trillion fantasy is 67% air. IPO day? Sure, retail FOMO might pop it 30%. Six months later, when $20 billion losses hit the 10-K and lockups expire? 50% crash incoming. This is WeWork 2.0: narrative over numbers. Smart money shorts the pop, buys puts, and waits for secondary sales at $300 billion. Keep switching LLM's. The only “brand” that matters is who controls the pipe: Azure, GCP, Oracle. Bet on them. OpenAI? Just another text box in a race to zero.

Bobatronic

You actually make my point with Activision. They got it through because Microsoft has little industry concentration in gaming. Microsoft has search, browser, and other AI all throughout their businesses (not just AI from OpenAI in Copilot) An antitrust review would slow down innovation and neither company wants that. Activision was bought for what it was. We hardly know what AI will be (and what OpenAI is) — and antitrust would block it because they would be asked to judge a moving target. They can’t pin it down a moving target. Microsoft needs to do what Meta is doing. Buy talent, not companies. There is not FTC / DOJ reviews for It’s like search They will build their own and partner.

ecrane2018

Robinhood doesn’t give a shit about the BBB. It would be significantly more useful to contact the FTC, you know the federal organization that regulates them vs an organization that has literally 0 legal authority.

skymagic

couldn't put my finger on what felt off about this timeline until I just realized they should've made u/bearhunter429 chair of the FTC 🙌

East-Resolution4446

Comcast kissing the ring and paying for the new East Wing would come in handy, if, for say, they wanted to buy Warner Brothers with FTC approval for example

Zealousideal_Club993

Filtronic (FTC) has large contracts with Space X

Cardude86

There should be an asterisk next to the 14 shutdowns since 1980. Shutdowns previously were not as extensive as they are today. Previously we would say "government shut down" even when it only affected a few agencies. Like the 1980 shutdown only impacted the FTC.

lateformyfuneral

It’s crazy. She had a bit about tackling corporate price gouging and the mechanism outlined was continued enforcement of anti-monopoly laws via the FTC. Suddenly everyone was screaming about Kamala’s Communist Price Controls. Now Trump proposes literal price controls and no one cares 🙃

Raket0st

Why would he? Crypto is not regulated by the FTC or any other regulatory body as most nations doesn't consider it as actual currencies or financial instruments. Even if the dude gets discovered with insider knowledge, he hasn't committed a financial transaction that falls under the purvey of insider trading.

ThrowAway1815515315

I think Evolv is the top right now but their stock is at \~$8. They did get slapped a bit by FTC for some misleading claims of their scanner. They are in stadiums, schools, hospitals. Xtract One (canadian company) is more in sports stadiums, conventions, events and schools. Another of their competitors is Liberty Defense (US company), they are in 3 small US airports, Palm Springs Airport, Rochester Airport, New Hampshire airport. One Canadian airport, juvenile correction center in Chile, some US court houses. Evolv price is too high for me unless it comes down to $5.00 Put in limit orders for XTRAF 1500 @ $0.45 and LDDFF 3000 @ $0.20

Forsaken-Parsnip-451

They can't even buy wbd even if they wanted to due to FTC

KikiWestcliffe

Corruption is the defining problem for America right now; for most parts of the rest of the world, this is just another Tuesday. Americans don’t realize how *nice* it is to live and work in a country with less corruption than anywhere else. Both of my parents emigrated to the U.S. from very corrupt countries in Asia and Eastern Europe. Corruption contaminates everything once it takes hold. You want to drive anywhere or travel internationally? Better make sure you keep cartons of cigarettes and bottles of top shelf liquor on-hand to bribe customs and police officers. You want to go out to eat at a restaurant? Hopefully, the restaurant owner has the right connections that has bribed all the right people to ensure an uninterrupted food supply. Need to go to a doctor? Well, given that licensing is partially dependent on paying off the right bureaucrats, let’s hope they actually know what they are doing! Oh, you are a really great contractor and have an idea that will make you the lowest bidder on a new public project? Too bad - the contract is going to the mayor’s father-in-law. And that new building will definitely be going over budget. It’s fine, though, because it is just the taxpayers who are on the hook! Want to save for retirement by investing in the stock market? Hope you are familiar with the fate of Enron and WorldCom, because there are going to be A LOT more of those scandals, without the threat of the SEC and FTC breathing down C-suite necks.

Zoomie_Catcher

Didn't he just fire the head of the FTC? Hmmmm...

Overall-Shame-2991

What kind of catalysts can make AMZN breakout 230+ ? Lately Amazon’s been stuck in that $220–230 range, feels like quiet consolidation but no real breakout yet. The way I see it, it’s lagging compared to other tech names because investors are still waiting for a strong catalyst. For it to finally break above $230, I think it probably needs one or more big triggers, maybe a major AWS or AI announcement, a strong earnings beat with raised guidance, or even some margin improvement from automation or cost cuts. Other things that could light it up might be faster Amazon Ads growth, new robotics or logistics tech, or even regulatory relief if the FTC stuff turns out positive. What do you guys think, is AMZN ready to finally break 230 soon, or will it keep consolidating a bit longer?

carosotanomad

Maybe reach out to the FTC, I hear they really don't like these things happening these days...

Maz00nga

$LWLG Next generation photonics, HPC and AI data centers need faster interconnections with minimal power consumption. Superstar leadership team with long history in photonics, and newcomers from INTC, AMAT, Coherent, Lumentum. $GWH Long duration energy storage (LDES) systems, substantial institutional ownership by Honeywell and SoftBank, renewables need LDES so that energy keeps flowing when the sun and wind are having a rest. LON:ENSI Complex mixed signal ASIC designer and supplier, ASTS are using their designs, will most likely have a trajectory similar to Filtronic (LON:FTC)

demitasse22

I went to the DOGE website a few months ago. It said DOGE actions saved me $995, over the course of my lifetime. So it cost me less than $1K in taxes over my entire life, to fund USAID, public works, climate initiatives, NASA, the FAA, the FTC, the FCC, the IRS, NOAA, HHS, SNAP, WIC, the Smithsonian , and any “woke” initiatives to improve the conditions of Americans and stabilize world order. I’d gladly pay that.

Toothlesskinch

Cute. Shutdown also applies to thr FTC and SEC. Can't imagine anyone is taking advantage of that.

DocInABox33

Confirmed you just want to argue, ignored everything I previously said and just spewing whataboutisms. Last time I’ll address any of these points but your mind is made up so don’t invest in it 🤷‍♂️ don’t know what you are going on about:   - your statement of trust being the reason for a store of value doesn’t make sense. The backbone of store of value isn’t a trust issue, it’s a function of scarcity; gold is a store of value because it is scarce due to limited, albeit potentially expanding, supply. Bitcoin will only ever have 21M coins➡️➡️ more scarce than gold - comparing it to equities because of the volatility is true now because 1) Bitcoin is still priced in fiat terms, not as an independent asset 2) not widely adopted yet. Less than 4% of the world owns Bitcoin, so it’s still in [early adoption phase](https://hbr.org/data-visuals/2024/03/the-technology-adoption-life-cycle). If you understood [price discovery](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discovery) you would know this - “no one is really concerned about the security of the modern brokerage system” is just a poor take and tone def… if you are taking about hacking then there’s just too many instances of large companies getting hacked every year; already talked about Microsoft, there’s [Equifax](https://www.cnet.com/news/privacy/equifaxs-hack-one-year-later-a-look-back-at-how-it-happened-and-whats-changed/), [MGM/Caesars](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/14/caesars-paid-millions-in-ransom-to-cybercrime-group-prior-to-mgm-hack.html), [major healthcare systems](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/ransomware-attack-us-health-care-payment-processor-serious-incident-ki-rcna141322), [major utilities entities](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/10/25/hacking-attacks-on-critical-infrastructure-more-common/75792143007/) the list goes on. You really think “the brokerage system,” whatever that means (maybe you are referring to the FTC/SEC because you went on to say legal protections) uses different cybersecurity vendors? - Larry Fink sure thinks BTC is safe enough (BlackRock’s [iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT)](https://financefeeds.com/blackrock-bitcoin-etf-breaks-into-top-20/) has officially broken into the ranks of the top 20 largest exchange-traded funds (ETFs)) so I guess he is wrong too. Not like [institutional investors](https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2025/06/12/as-pension-funds-buy-bitcoin-a-new-path-in-its-history-is-traced/) and [endowment funds](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/harvard-pours-117m-bitcoin-etf-091919514.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3RhcnRwYWdlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFDRw4J_hrFFAHL6lFUt7QSsNGxJr6bZrAhyXMxDxHqYLpxV368wOnIbSNrDFwxX0VGHo3GtoBzGB-bRFIGDJ3tPe9J_C7y9AiknkmO62TXSL5yXuYqfCD91y5aF6rn91NUyqW5HCgRh-KJeuXctgmUueMDsNpGkGNk5WwV-2XUR) trust this thing BTC either I suppose 🤷‍♂️   Don’t invest then but please stop bothering me I’ve already laid out a cogent, persuasive thesis it’s your choice to become enlightened or remain ignorant

DocInABox33

Confirmed you just want to argue, ignored everything I previously said and just spewing whataboutisms. Last time I’ll address of these points but your mind is made up so don’t invest in it 🤷‍♂️ don’t know what you are going on about:   - your statement of trust being the reason for a store of value doesn’t make sense. The backbone of store of value isn’t a trust issue, it’s a function of scarcity; gold is a store of value because it is scarce due to limited, albeit potentially expanding, supply. Bitcoin will only ever have 21M coins➡️➡️ more scarce than gold - comparing it to equities because of the volatility is true now because 1) Bitcoin is still priced in fiat terms, not as an independent asset 2) not widely adopted yet. Less than 4% of the world owns Bitcoin, so it’s still in [early adoption phase](https://hbr.org/data-visuals/2024/03/the-technology-adoption-life-cycle). If you understood [price discovery](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discovery) you would know this - “no one is really concerned about the security of the modern brokerage system” is just a poor take and tone def… if you are taking about hacking then there’s just too many instances of large companies getting hacked every year; already talked about Microsoft, there’s [Equifax](https://www.cnet.com/news/privacy/equifaxs-hack-one-year-later-a-look-back-at-how-it-happened-and-whats-changed/), [MGM/Caesars](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/14/caesars-paid-millions-in-ransom-to-cybercrime-group-prior-to-mgm-hack.html), [major healthcare systems](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/ransomware-attack-us-health-care-payment-processor-serious-incident-ki-rcna141322), [major utilities entities](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/10/25/hacking-attacks-on-critical-infrastructure-more-common/75792143007/) the list goes on. You really think “the brokerage system,” whatever that means (maybe you are referring to the FTC/SEC because you went on to say legal protections) uses different cybersecurity vendors? - Larry Fink sure thinks BTC is safe enough (BlackRock’s [iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT)](https://financefeeds.com/blackrock-bitcoin-etf-breaks-into-top-20/) has officially broken into the ranks of the top 20 largest exchange-traded funds (ETFs)) so I guess he is wrong too. Not like [institutional investors](https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2025/06/12/as-pension-funds-buy-bitcoin-a-new-path-in-its-history-is-traced/) and [endowment funds](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/harvard-pours-117m-bitcoin-etf-091919514.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3RhcnRwYWdlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFDRw4J_hrFFAHL6lFUt7QSsNGxJr6bZrAhyXMxDxHqYLpxV368wOnIbSNrDFwxX0VGHo3GtoBzGB-bRFIGDJ3tPe9J_C7y9AiknkmO62TXSL5yXuYqfCD91y5aF6rn91NUyqW5HCgRh-KJeuXctgmUueMDsNpGkGNk5WwV-2XUR) trust this thing BTC either I suppose 🤷‍♂️ Don’t invest then but please stop bothering me I’ve already laid out a cogent, persuasive thesis it’s your choice to become enlightened or remain ignorant

Toothlesskinch

Don't be confused by market pump. Folks are making money hand over fist and will until the economy reminds the market it exists. You think markets are gonna tank with the FTC and SEC basically closed? We're pricing in zero oversight.

Forsaken-Parsnip-451

UFC ( USA ), boxing ( worldwide ) bunch of sports, moving TV cable network to streaming, hired the top dogs from Uber, meta, scaleAI, hired the ex FTC attorney general of US department of justice, backed by David and Larry Ellison ( 70% owner ) and now t he Silverman, rumors to buy WBD Could be $100 plus in a year

jawstrock

Companies have lots of liquidity right now and no government oversight so they are doing everything they can to consolidate. It's going to get worse too, FTC is considering allowing broadcasters to buy each other too. America is entering the age of monopolies.

Xinlitik

The Fed is different than the FCC and the FTC. It’s literally an independent organization, and not officially part of the government.

khert87

Glad the Supreme Court got this right (so far), but why didn’t this same logic and ruling apply to the other members of independent agencies Trump has fired!? Either these agencies, like the Fed, FCC and FTC for example, are independent agencies protected from the executive branches whims or they aren’t. Saying some agencies, like the Fed, are independent but the others aren’t and allowing those firings to proceed while their cases play out is inconsistent logic and just total BS. Clearly the Supreme Court realizes the importance of the Fed’s independence to the market and global economy, but how “important” their independence is for a functioning market shouldn’t be a factor in decisions like this. Either all these agencies are independent or they’re not. And clearly they are…

DinobotsGacha

Couple gold bars delivered to the White House that shutdown will be permanent for FTC

Zipski577

Its actually the opposite of that believe it or not. It more-so has to do with censorship/ algorithm/ bot activity/ etc.. And it makes sense because this type of thing has hindered price action on several social media stocks that trade publicly over the last decade (think 2018 when META experienced the largest drawdown in big-tech history value-wise.. -20% in 1 day and -$120B in mkt value after announcing they would be increasing moderation of the platform). META also dropped -75% from Sept 2021-end of 2022 when the “Facebook papers” leaked and faced regulatory pressure from the FTC. Fast forward to today… Not even a month ago, the FTC Chairman sent a letter to social media platforms/ messengers/ data security companies such as Discord, Meta, Reddit, Snap, X, etc warning them about censorship and cited the FTC Act’s “prohibition against unfair and deceptive practices in the market place.” MSFT has trailed the S&P by 885 basis points (has been several claims/ complaints made about LinkedIn’s algo recently) and META has trailed by 1,623 bps. Take the information as you will. Headline risk is a real thing.. even the business is not materially affected, headlines cause drawdowns.

RetardedChimpanzee

Does Redfin keep the money? Who’s to say they don’t trip the FTC off.

thatkid1010101

So now Zillow, Opendoors only legit competition is now being sued by the FTC? lol HUH [https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ftc-sues-zillow-redfin-over-213233845.html](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ftc-sues-zillow-redfin-over-213233845.html)

tnolan182

1. This wouldn’t meet the definition of price fixing 2. Any lawsuit on anti-trust/price fixing would likely need to come from a Trump controlled FTC, aka not gonna happen

callsonreddit

Zillow drops 4% as FTC sues over alleged $100M deal paying Redfin to quit rental listings [https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ftc-accuses-zillow-paying-redfin-185136776.html](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ftc-accuses-zillow-paying-redfin-185136776.html)

SeriousGarbage3990

So if FTC is suing Redfin and RKT is buying Redfin then RKT gets fucked? Is that deal even done?