US senator presses Amazon, Google on Matter smart-home effort

Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google need to offer more details about how their smart-home devices and virtual assistants will support competition and user privacy, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar wrote to the companies on Tuesday.

In a letter, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee said testimony last week by attorneys from the companies left her with concerns about their dominance of the fast-growing field.

She asked the companies which of their products will support – and which will not – a recently revamped industry alliance known as Matter. The group, which includes Apple Inc, Ikea and others, aims to allow home-automation gadgets such as internet-connected lights and speakers from various companies to sync with one another.