The EU’s digital chief Margrethe Vestager wants the future operation of the so-called metaverse to face more scrutiny, saying that plans to create an all-encompassing virtual reality environment pose new challenges for antitrust regulators, reported Politico.
The metaverse has become synonymous with the grand plans of Meta (formerly Facebook) to create shared virtual spaces, allowing for users to interact, work, play games, and consume in an immersive digital environment that mirrors many of our real-world habits.
“The metaverse will present new markets and a range of different businesses. There will be a marketplace where someone may have a dominant position,” Vestager told POLITICO in an exclusive interview. “Things are happening that we need to be able to follow.”
But while Meta has pitched the most ambitious plans for building its own metaverse, there are other metaverse iterations — such as Decentraland and Sandbox.
Meanwhile, retailers are already hedging their bets on the economic potentials of this space.
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