iRobot Bankruptcy and Planned Sale to China-Based Entity Show Risks of Misguided Antitrust Policy, Says ITIF

WASHINGTON—In response to the announced Chapter 11 bankruptcy of iRobot, a major American robotics firm and maker of the Roomba robot vacuum, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading think tank for science and technology policy, released the following statement from Giorgio Castiglia, economic policy analyst for ITIF’s Schumpeter Project:

iRobot’s bankruptcy and planned sale to the China-based manufacturer Picea is an unfortunate outcome that could have been avoided had Amazon’s proposed 2022 acquisition moved forward. Robotics is a critical foundation of the next industrial revolution, and the collapse of the Amazon–iRobot deal has slowed progress in an industry the United States cannot afford to fall behind in.

The companies jointly abandoned the acquisition in early 2024 after facing scrutiny from European competition authorities, a result that was cheered by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission under Lina Khan at the time. Indeed, a report from the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability later found evidence that U.S. and European antitrust agencies were in “close contact” and coordinated their investigation of the deal.

Without the ability to merge with Amazon, iRobot struggled to compete against state-backed Chinese robotics rivals and laid off more than half of its workforce between late 2023 and March 2025. An Amazon transaction could have provided the capital, scale, and distribution needed to compete more effectively, expand U.S. market share in the global robotics industry, and deliver consumer benefits through lower prices via Amazon’s online marketplace.

Regulators must recognize that blocking transactions that pose no credible risk of anticompetitive harm can directly undermine Western competitiveness. The failure of the Amazon–iRobot deal should serve as a stark warning about the dangers of America’s current approach to strategic competition and the ongoing antitrust crusade against large U.S. technology companies, both at home and abroad.

Contact: Sydney Mack, [email protected]