WEBVTT - FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson Talks Acquihires 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:07.240 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:11.559 Welcome to our Bloomberg TV and radio audiences around the world. 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:14.520 A recurring theme of recent tech m and a has 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:18.000 been deals to bring in talent in so called aquahiers. 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:21.160 The Federal Trade Commission is taking notice. One member of 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:25.880 the FTC worn Thursday that these quote creative deal structures 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:30.600 could raise antitrust concerns. Let's discuss and delighted to welcome 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:35.000 Andrew Ferguson, Chairman of the FTC, to the program. We 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:39.000 cover the topic of aquahiers on Bloomberg Tech regularly. It 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:43.720 was a mainstay story in twenty twenty five. When does 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:47.479 a talent deal stop being a talent deal and become 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:51.040 more than that, become a merger? What are the rules 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:55.320 based approach that the FTC would take chairmen to look 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:55.600 at that. 0:00:57.320 --> 0:00:59.080 Yeah, so we are examining. 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:03.200 Looks have been around, especially in the sort of startup 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:08.000 founder space, for a long time, and they've gotten bigger 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:11.720 basically in the last ADMIN and a lot of people 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:13.320 were of the view that these things were sort of 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:16.520 being constructed in these big deals to try to escape 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:19.720 you know, Hart Scott Rodino Review, which is pre merger 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:22.679 anti trust review in the United States because the Biden 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:25.039 administration was trying to block all deals, and I think 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:29.240 generally they were that isn't you know, necessary anymore. 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:30.000 We don't need. 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:34.840 Clever workarounds for around anti trust review anymore because at 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:38.360 the FTC under the Trump administration, you get a fair shake. 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:39.960 I'm not saying your deal will go through. 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:42.200 I've sued to block several deals this year, and I've 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:45.600 won those cases. But if your deal's not illegal, we 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:47.200 get out of the way and sort of let the 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:50.120 market take care of things. So we are beginning to 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:53.440 examine that the HSR Act has a provision that says 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:56.120 you're not allowed to structure deals in order to escape 0:01:56.280 --> 0:01:59.440 pre merger review, and so we are beginning to examine 0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:03.960 the exactly to make sure that they aren't an attempt to. 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:05.720 Get around HSR review. 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:08.320 But the message I want to send sort of Silicon 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:11.160 Valley and to the M and A infrastructure generally is 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:15.800 you don't need to structure deals as a clever, you know, 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:18.800 attempt to get around pre merger review. You'll get a 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:21.720 fair shake at the FTC. Deal may not go through, 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:23.880 but if your deal is legal, I will get out 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:26.040 of your way very quickly, and if it's not, I'll 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:27.800 take you to court and I'll fight to win there. 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:30.799 We're not going to let the process be the punishment anymore. 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:34.640 But Jem, you know it is important to us to 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:35.120 us to. 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:37.919 Make sure that people aren't going to use clever deal 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:39.799 structures to get around pre merger review. 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:43.680 The language of clever or creative deal structures that I 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:46.560 cited at the beginning of our conversation was from your 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:49.760 colleague and fellow Commissioner Mark made Or Right, who is 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:53.000 speaking at a conference in California yesterday. I think what 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:56.919 the industry hopes to understand from you is what the 0:02:56.960 --> 0:02:59.680 threshold is, or what the set of rules. 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:03.079 Would be where a hiring. 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:09.440 Proposal situation should be reported to antitrust authorities. It should 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:13.000 be Yeah, as simple as that. It should be by 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:13.920 right reported. 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:16.080 Yeah. 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:19.160 And you know, we are beginning to examine how these 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:22.800 deals work. Aqu higher deal structures vary from deal to deal, 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.040 and so there wouldn't necessarily be sort of a one 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:28.880 size fits all rule. But we are beginning to examine 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:31.440 these big aqui higher deals that raise a lot of 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:35.160 attention so that we can understand when an aqui higher 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:38.119 is in fact an acquisition that might be covered by 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:41.800 the pre merger review laws and when it's not, and 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:44.440 we need to understand them before we're sort of out 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:46.880 there telling people what the rules are. But this is 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:49.560 you're right, this has become a big enough deal that 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:51.760 we are beginning to look very closely at how these 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:54.960 things work, including you know, determining whether we need to 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:58.760 promulgate additional guidance here in the coming months about how 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:00.400 we understand these acquires. 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:03.800 Is there a fact that that matters is more to you, 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:06.600 you know, the number of employees hired, or putting a 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:11.800 value on the intellectual capital or the competitive advantage that 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:14.040 such a transaction would give the aquira. 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:19.520 So the value that matters for HSR is set by 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:20.200 the statute. 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:21.320 That's not really here or there. 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:26.600 But the HSR Act applies to deals where assets or 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:30.640 stock are being purchased, and that's what triggers HSR review. 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:33.840 And so what we need to understand, which is why 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:36.840 we're beginning to examine this question now, is when does 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:40.000 an acqui hier you know, involve the sale of the 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:43.159 acquisition of assets or stock in a way that would 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:45.400 trigger the statute. Look at the end of the day, 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:48.640 I'm a lawyer and a law enforcer, and I enforced statutes, 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:51.599 and those statutes have texts, and so it's my job 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:55.400 to understand whether things happening in the marketplace trigger the 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:57.680 text that Congress has actually passed for us. 0:04:57.720 --> 0:04:58.800 But that's what we're looking at. 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:00.760 We're not trying to set sort of we wouldn't be 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:03.799 setting like aqui hier rules. Generally, we would be looking 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:06.440 at deals and trying to understand, you know, does this 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:09.640 in fact involve the acquisition or sale of assets or 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:12.920 stock and are is anything being structured as an attempt 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:16.279 to circumvent review. But you know, I'm not here to 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:18.159 say this is what the rules are. There will be 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:21.240 you know, hard and fast, clear rules. There aren't even 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:23.520 for the ordinary deals. We've got the you know, the 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:26.520 HSR Act and the HSR rules. But deal structure is 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:29.800 even an ordinary in then a very widely, and so 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:32.760 we have to apply the text that Congress actually wrote 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:36.719 to specific deals. But aqui hiers have become frequent enough 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:39.720 and large enough that we are beginning to look at 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:43.080 the appropriate way to apply the law that Congress actually 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:44.719 adopted to aqui hires. 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:46.359 I don't It's not my job. 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:48.800 As an enforcer to sort of fit square pegs into 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:50.960 round holes. But it is my job to make sure 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:53.000 that the will of Congress, which is the will of 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:55.360 the people at the end of the day, is being followed. 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:56.920 And that's what we're here to try to do. We're 0:05:56.960 --> 0:05:59.599 trying to figure out how that applies in the case 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:00.800 of acquay hires. 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:03.960 CHAM and how common is this in the field of 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:08.840 oftficial intelligence or how often is this particular scenario arising 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:13.760 and crossing your desk from the AI industry. 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:18.040 We've seen a couple in the last twelve months. 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:21.000 My understanding is that the act we hire sort of structure, 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.520 if you want to call it that, where you know, 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:27.600 a firm acquires a lot of the talent and another 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:29.560 firm is pretty old. Has been going on for a 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.760 long time, but it often involves very small firms, and 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:34.440 I think the reason that a lot of people are 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:37.120 starting to notice it is because now it involves much 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:40.680 larger firms and the sort of price being attached to 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:45.680 obtaining the talent into licensing IP is in the billions. 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:48.279 So I've definitely seen a couple in the AI space 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:51.360 this year, which is why has attracted a lot of 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:53.680 the attention, and it's why we're beginning to try to 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:57.520 examine how are these working and how does the law 0:06:57.560 --> 0:07:02.080 that Congress passed governing pre merger review actually apply here 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:05.960 as well as the provision in the pre merger review 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:09.480 law that says you can't structure a deal in order 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:13.040 to try to escape HSR review. So that is what 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:15.040 we are trying to understand now. But certainly, I mean 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:17.720 you are reported on them. You can read them about 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:19.880 them on the Wall Street Journal. It's definitely true that 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:21.600 there have been a couple of these big ones in 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:23.440 the AI area. 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:27.400 You're alive with us on Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg Radar around 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:31.360 the world. Were speaking to Andrew Ferguson, Chairman of the FTC. 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:34.120 I think the biggest case study of late which just 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:37.840 to give an example of the structure, is Nvidio and 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:40.640 GROC Because you know what in Vidia CEO Jen Mung 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:42.520 told me a couple of weeks ago is they hired 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:46.600 about four hundred engineers, but it also included the licensing 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:50.360 of the core technology at a twenty billion dollar value. 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:54.160 But over a set time horizon, Grock exists as a 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:56.600 company still but with a focus on one of its 0:07:56.600 --> 0:08:01.880 business lines, that hiring and licensing technology fullmats. Is there 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:03.280 anything specific that Shaman? 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:08.320 Yeah, so I can't talk about specific deals or specific 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:12.120 potential investigations. As a law enforcer, you know, I have 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:14.840 to maintain a lot of confidentiality about the work of 0:08:14.880 --> 0:08:19.960 the commission. But I mean, you know that particular structure 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:23.480 of the aquahier was different from example, from the one 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:26.680 that Meta conducted earlier in the year. These things vary 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:29.280 pretty wildly. The terms of the aile I'm sorry of 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:32.400 the software and IP licensing can vary, the number of 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:37.360 employees obtained in the transaction can vary. So we're trying 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:39.880 to understand these things, first of all, because the last 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:42.600 thing I want to do is sort of blindly charge 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:45.400 ahead with a bunch of you know, sort of pre 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:48.960 determined assumptions and start trying to apply the law to 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:52.360 something we don't understand. But it is very important to me, 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:56.600 because it's very important to Congress that people not try 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:59.160 to come up with ways to attempt to get around 0:08:59.240 --> 0:08:59.960 pre merger review. 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:02.440 And that's what we're looking at. And again, it's just 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:03.440 not necessary. 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:05.480 I get why people wanted to do this in the 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:09.199 previous administration, where the anti trust enforcers tended to use 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:11.559 the process as a way to block deals rather than 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:13.600 you know, sort of being a lot more honest about 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:16.559 it than taking people to court. But under the Trump administration, 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:18.800 we are either going to get out of your way 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:20.959 very quickly or we are going to take you to court. 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:23.600 We're not letting the process be the punishment, and so 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:26.040 people don't need to try to come up with ways 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:27.240 to get around HSR. 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:29.440 You will get a fair shake at the FTC. 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:33.320 Chevan, there's a lot of interest in the FTC and 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:36.320 consumer protection and what the FTC's remit is in the 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:37.280 domain of AI. 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:38.480 It's an example. 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:41.520 I know you won't comment on specific cases, but x 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:44.400 and Elon musk s XAI and Grock have been in 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:47.680 the news because of the use of the tool to 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:53.000 generate non consen sensual sexualized images. Does the FTC have 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:57.800 a role in regulating from a consumer protection standpoint that domain? 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:01.200 Yeah, I mean the president. 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:04.800 Congress passed and the President signed in spring of last 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:08.160 year that Take It Down Act, which is seminal groundbreaking 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:14.400 legislation to protect people from artificially generated non consensual intimate images. 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:18.480 The criminal component of that law that the Department of 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:22.160 Justice enforces is already in effect. The part that we enforce, 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:26.000 where we have to compel platforms to take down these 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:29.120 images and then bring enforcement actions that they fail, will 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:30.280 take effect in the spring. 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:31.800 We are getting ready for that. 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:36.679 I have been meeting with the elite child protection prosecutors 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:39.240 and investigators at the Department of Homeland Security to make 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:41.840 sure that we're synced up on that mission. This is 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:43.960 relatively new to the FTC, and I want to make 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:46.600 sure we hit the ground running when the authority takes effect. 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:48.400 Right now, we are hiring. 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:54.439 Specialists, prosecutors, lawyers, investigators, and IT experts to enable us 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:57.000 the second that this thing takes effect to start bringing 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:00.560 enforcement actions wherever these things are happening. And I don't 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:02.480 care what kind of company you are, if you are 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:05.840 a platform, whether you're a legacy social media company a 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:09.440 burgeoning AI company, I don't care. If you are violating 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:11.000 to take a down Act, you are going to hear 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:12.600 from us, and we are going to be ready to 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:16.280 do it. This is incredibly important legislation. I'm really excited 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:18.560 that the FTC has a role in this. I lobby 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:21.080 Congress very heavily to make sure that we had enough 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:24.120 money to get this program off the ground when it 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:25.600 takes effect in the middle of this year. 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:29.640 You're getting that money and we will be ready, Chairman. 0:11:29.720 --> 0:11:34.000 President Trump has nominated David McNeil to the Commission. Our 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:37.360 audience have asked me to ask you your thoughts on 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:43.640 that someone perhaps without antitrust experience, legal experience, the Commission experience, 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:48.400 and somebody, you know, frankly with high net wealth. 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:51.920 Your thoughts, please look. 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:54.360 I am generally of the view that Washington has too 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:57.480 many lawyers. I think it is great that the President 0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:00.200 has decided to nominate someone who isn't a lawyer, who 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:03.400 doesn't sort of think in the pathways that lawyers always think. 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:06.680 I think it's great that the President has nominated. You know, 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:08.559 I've never met mister McNeil. I've talked to him a 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:11.800 little since the nomination. The man is a true American patriot. 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:14.400 He's created thousands of jobs in this country. He has 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:19.079 been one of the most outspoken proponents of manufacturing here 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:22.240 in America. That has been one of the President's principal 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:25.400 economic priorities is to make sure we make and build 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:26.320 things in America. 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:28.360 David McNeil has done that. 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:30.880 He has been successful in doing that, and I think 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:33.160 it's great that there is going to be sort of 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:36.720 someone with that perspective who isn't coming at this like 0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:39.480 I am from fancy law schools with a long sort 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:40.600 of litigation. 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:41.760 And law enforcement background. 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:44.800 He's coming at it as a job creator, as a 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:48.640 wealth creator, and as one of the most outspoken proponents 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:51.320 of manufacturing in America that there is in this country. 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:53.960 You know, is it an unconventional pick, Yeah, of course 0:12:54.000 --> 0:12:56.720 it is. But part of what has made President Trump 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:59.280 so successful is that he doesn't always think in the 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:01.720 conventions that governed DC. And I think that this is 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:04.600 a really really good idea to bring someone with mister 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:08.040 McNeil's perspective here to the Commission chairman. 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:11.640 The major concern to the consumer right now is affordability. 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:16.720 What is the TC able to do on pricing pressure, 0:13:16.800 --> 0:13:19.760 bringing prices down? Addressing that consumer concern? 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:23.920 Yeah, I mean it's one of my main concerns too. 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:26.280 We're doing a lot on this front. On the merger 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:29.320 review front, my first two merger enforcement actions were in 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:35.160 the healthcare space. We just won one of those healthcare 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:38.920 enforcement actions last week and several months before, the judge 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:41.920 denied our injunction, but only because after I sued them, 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:44.400 they offered to divest the assets that were. 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:46.200 The problem, so that was a win for the Commission 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:46.560 as well. 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:51.160 Another merger enforcement action I brought is about industrial adhesives 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:53.560 that are used to build homes. We have a real 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:56.520 home building crisis in this country. Although under President Trump, 0:13:56.559 --> 0:13:59.160 home sales went up last year for the first time 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:02.199 in a while, we still have a home affordability crisis 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:05.320 in this country. And I have focused intently on the 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:08.840 competition side, on making sure that we are active in 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:14.199 markets grocery, healthcare, homes to try to bring prices down 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:17.199 to consumers and to make sure that all Americans get 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:21.520 the advantages that come with vigorous competition. On the other side, 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:26.040 I sued ticket Master and a groundbreaking lawsuit charging them 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:29.040 with having basically inflated all the prices of tickets in 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:34.280 violation of multiple federal laws. Americans have been complaining justly 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:37.080 for a long time that it has become almost impossible 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:39.720 to take your family to a ballgame or to a 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.760 concert without having a fork over the value of a 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:45.360 mortgage payment to do it. We have been very active 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:47.680 in the ticketing space to make sure that those prices 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:50.720 are going to come down. We have been bringing actions 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:54.000 on the consumer protection side in the healthcare space. We've 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:56.760 also been bringing a lot of consumer protection cases and 0:14:56.840 --> 0:15:00.440 competition cases to protect the value of wages again non 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:02.440 competes against job scams. 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:04.640 The FTC is a little agency. 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:07.160 Our budget is even half a billion dollars, but we 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:11.280 have returned literally billions of dollars of wrongfully taken money 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:13.480 just in the last year back in the pockets of 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:17.320 the American consumers. We are doing everything we can within 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:20.400 our little remit to try to bring down prices and 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:22.680 to make this country a more affordable place to live, 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:24.840 which is exactly what President Trump has been telling us 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:25.040 to do. 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:26.240 Chairman. 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:29.880 Very quickly, Bloomberg's reported that the White House is considering 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:34.360 you for a DOJ fraud role. What would that entail 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:38.080 and legally would it be possible for you to take 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:41.000 on that role while remaining chair of the FTC. 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:44.880 I can tell you definitively, I'm not leaving the Federal 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:47.560 Trade Commission and I'm not going to the Department of Justice. 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:50.240 This is an important full time job that the President 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.720 entrusted me with to try to help the American people 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:56.040 that just voted in their tens of millions to make 0:15:56.080 --> 0:15:58.840 Donald Trump president. That's what we have done. We've sent 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:01.920 billions of dollars wrongfully taken money back to Americans, and 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:05.480 I'm focused on fighting fraud and protecting competition right here 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:06.160 at the FTC. 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:10.000 Andrew Ferguson, the FTC Chairman, thank you for your time 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:13.680 here on Bloomberg Tech. Okay, coming up, Jermaina Alaman of 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:17.800 Prometeer joins us to discuss the future of banking within AI. 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:19.360 That's next. 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:20.320 This is Bloomberg Tech.