Federal Trade Commission Investigates Big Tech Talent Poaching

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched a new line of scrutiny into how large technology companies hire talent from startups, focusing on so‑called “acqui‑hire” deals that may be used to sidestep merger review and antitrust rules.​

What the FTC Is Looking At

• The FTC is examining situations where a big tech firm hires most or all of a startup’s key staff and licenses its technology, instead of buying the company outright.​

• Chairman Andrew Ferguson has said the agency is checking whether these deals are being structured specifically to avoid the normal merger notification and review process.​

Why This Relates to Talent Poaching

• These “acqui‑hires” can resemble aggressive talent poaching, because the startup is effectively stripped of its core team, weakening it as a competitive threat in the market.​

• Regulators are concerned that if multiple large firms follow this pattern, it could reduce innovation and suppress competition for highly skilled workers by steering deals into opaque, bespoke arrangements instead of open hiring markets or transparent acquisitions.​

Examples and Companies Involved

• Recent deals under the spotlight include arrangements where Nvidia licensed technology and hired key staff from Groq, and Meta reportedly spent around 15 billion dollars linked to hiring leadership from Scale AI without acquiring the company itself.​

• Other scrutinized moves include Microsoft bringing in a top AI executive through a 650‑million‑dollar “licensing” deal with an AI startup, and Amazon hiring founders from Adept AI in parallel with commercial agreements, all without formal takeovers.​

Legal and Policy Context

• US antitrust agencies have a history of challenging hiring practices that restrict labor market competition, such as the earlier Silicon Valley “no‑poach” and “no‑cold‑call” cases involving Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, Intuit, and Pixar.​

• The current focus differs: instead of explicit no‑poach pacts, the concern is that complex deal structures may quietly eliminate nascent rivals and shape where top technical talent can go, while evading standard merger scrutiny.​

Possible Outcomes for Big Tech and Startups

• If the FTC concludes that certain acqui‑hire structures are anticompetitive, it could demand changes to deal terms, require advance notice of similar arrangements, or in extreme cases seek to unwind or block future agreements.​

• For startups and engineers, this scrutiny may push deals toward clearer, reportable acquisitions or more conventional hiring and partnership models, with closer attention to preserving competition and worker mobility.​