California officials on Monday said newly unsealed court filings show Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) engaged in an illegal price-fixing scheme that allegedly pushed up prices across major retailers.
Amazon Price Fixing Allegations Involving Major Retailers
In a press release, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the state has obtained unredacted court filings that allegedly show Amazon pressuring vendors and retailers to raise prices across competing platforms, including Walmart and Target.
"The evidence we've uncovered is clear as day: Amazon is working to make your life more unaffordable," Bonta said.
He added, "The company is price fixing, colluding with vendors and other retailers to raise costs for Americans beyond what the market requires."
According to the filing, Amazon allegedly instructed vendors to "fix," "raise," or "increase" prices on rival platforms and threatened penalties if they did not comply, including reduced visibility or loss of business on Amazon.
The state claims these actions led to coordinated price increases across multiple retailers.
Amazon spokesperson rejected the allegations, calling them a "transparent attempt to distract from the weakness of its case."
Spokesperson added, “Amazon is consistently identified as America’s lowest-priced online retailer, and we’re proud of the low prices customers find when shopping in our store,” reported Business Insider.
Amazon-Anthropic Deal Faces Scrutiny
Jim Cramer dismissed concerns over "circular" AI deals after Amazon and Anthropic announced a major long-term partnership focused on cloud and AI infrastructure.
Anthropic is committed to spending over $100 billion on Amazon Web Services over the next decade, while also gaining access to Amazon's upcoming Trainium3 chips.
At the same time, Amazon expanded its investment in Anthropic with $5 billion upfront and up to $20 billion more tied to milestones, adding to its earlier $8 billion stake.
Analysts questioned whether the structure represented circular financing, where companies both invest in and depend heavily on each other as customers.
Cramer rejected the criticism, saying, "This is not a circular deal."
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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