Amazon CEO Andy Jessee on Thursday took aim at regulators who are blocking rapid mergers, including the company’s planned acquisition of a robotic vacuum maker. iRobotwhich collapsed earlier this year amid antitrust concerns.

“I think it’s a really sad story,” Jesse said in an interview on “Squawk Box” with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin as the Amazon chief released his annual shareholder letter. The acquisition stood to give iRobot a competitive boost against rivals, but regulators blocked the deal “because they’re concerned that we’re going to highlight our vacuum cleaners, the Roomba, versus others, which of course Not our model.”

Amazon walked away from its plan to acquire iRobot for $1.7 billion in January after Europe’s antitrust watchdog and the Federal Trade Commission said it raised competition concerns. iRobot laid off 31% of its staff, and its shares have fallen more than 75% so far this year.

The move shows that regulators “trust these two big Chinese companies with footprints inside the homes of American consumers more than Amazon,” Jassy said.

The robotic vacuum industry has become increasingly crowded in recent years, with companies such as China-based Anker, AquaVax and Rubrock, as well as SharkNinja eating away at iRobot’s once-dominant market share.

The iRobot decision comes even as global regulators have been more aggressive in their efforts to stop big tech companies from expanding further, with the Biden administration making antitrust enforcement a top priority in the tech sector.

As the pace of megadeals has slowed, tech companies have invested in artificial intelligence startups, which are trying to gain a foothold in the growing market. Amazon last month raised its stake in AI startup Anthropic to $2.75 billion, counting. Google As one of his biggest supporters. Microsoft OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has invested billions.

Regulators have also zeroed in on those partnerships, with the FTC opening an inquiry into the deals in January.

“I think people don’t know what they can do right now,” Jesse said. He urged regulators to be “more reasonable” in their stance on big tech deals.

Amazon is also facing an ongoing lawsuit by the FTC. The agency sued Amazon in September, accusing it of operating an illegal monopoly that stifles competition and raises prices for consumers, while increasing costs for sellers.

The litigation centers on Amazon’s sprawling third-party marketplace, the core of its e-commerce business. The marketplace now accounts for more than 60% of the goods sold on the platform, and includes a number of businesses that generate millions of dollars in annual revenue on the site.

Over the years, Amazon has built a well-oiled fulfillment and logistics machine that enables it and third-party sellers to deliver products to consumers at an exponentially faster pace. CNBC previously reported that a large network of groups has tried to take advantage of Amazon’s scale and flexible return process by issuing fake refunds.

It’s a big problem for retailers, costing more than $101 billion last year, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation and Après Retail.

When asked how Amazon is dealing with return fraud, Jesse said the company has teams charged with checking returns to make sure they’re “proper.”

“At our scale, you find you get a little bit of everything,” he added.