Sources: the US DOJ is preparing to open an in-depth probe into Adobe’s $20B takeover of Figma and has been contacting customers, competitors, and investors (Josh Sisco/Politico)

Hunter Walk:
Adobe’s $20B Figma deal is worth it because Figma’s $400M ARR, independent of margin, was continuing to double and creating pricing pressure on Adobe  —  Hint: The Answer Doesn’t Involve a Spreadsheet  —  I’m not an investor in Figma.  I don’t know Figma CEO Dylan Field.  And I’m not a designer.

Bloomberg:
Adobe plans to acquire UI design and prototyping tool Figma for around $20B in cash and stock; Figma CEO Dylan Field will continue in the role  —  Adobe Inc. is nearing a deal to acquire Figma, a startup that makes online design collaboration tools, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Nilay Patel / The Verge:
An interview with CEO Dylan Field on scaling Figma, selling the company to Adobe, retaining autonomy, WebGL, making VR Figma for the metaverse, AGI, and more  —  We also talk about AI and VR — but we know why you’re here. … Dylan Field is the co-founder and CEO of Figma …

Josh Sisco / Politico:
Sources: the FTC has begun a review of Amazon’s $1.7B takeover of iRobot to assess if the deal violates antitrust law and illegally boosts Amazon’s market share  —  The FTC has officially begun a review of Amazon’s $1.7 billion takeover of robot vacuum maker iRobot to decide …

Ina Fried / Axios:
Adobe argues Figma will help it rethink design tools for the cloud era; Adobe’s competing product, XD, generated just $15M in annual revenue after seven years  —  Adobe executives think there’s a lot that critics of its $20 billion purchase of Figma are missing.

Biz Carson / Protocol:
A look at antitrust concerns for Adobe’s $20B Figma acquisition, including whether the deal could eliminate competition and harm consumers by reducing choices  —  Hello, and welcome to Pipeline.  I’m Biz Carson, and I’m devastated after I lost my 149-day Wordle streak to “parer” yesterday.