When Internal 'Acquisitions' Become the Norm in Big Tech, What Should Open Source Communities Watch Out For?

TCL Electronics acquired a 51% stake in TCL Air Conditioner for HK$5.61 billion, but this news didn't make much of a splash in the tech circle. However, if you shift your perspective from financial statements to the open-source community, you'll find an intriguing story: two entities under the same group achieved deeper integration through an internal transaction, yet external discussions focused almost entirely on whether the price was fair and if there would be business synergies. No one asked—after this acquisition, will the software stack behind TCL Air Conditioner become more open or more closed?