EU's Vestager says scrutiny of competition in metaverse needed

The metaverse, shared virtual worlds accessible via the Internet, is the next digital market to attract regulatory scrutiny, EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said on Thursday.
The metaverse has come into sharper focus since Facebook changed its name to Meta Platforms (META.O) two years ago to reflect its bet on the new sector as the successor to the mobile internet.


That move has in turn triggered concerns about Meta's possible dominance. Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google and Microsoft (MSFT.O) are also active in generative artificial intelligence that the industry sees as the new bright spot.

​"It's already time for us to start asking what healthy competition would look like in the metaverse," Vestager said a conference organised by Keystone Strategy.
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"And there's a much wider political debate that digital markets need careful attention. I think all jurisdictions are moving forward in one form or another," Vestager said.
She said some antitrust enforcers were more advanced than others.
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