Amazon generated more than $1bn in extra profit from a secret algorithm that controlled pricing, US antitrust regulators have alleged in a lawsuit accusing the tech giant of using monopoly power to harm consumers and sellers.

Formerly redacted portions of the Federal Trade Commission complaint filed in September were revealed on Thursday, showing new details about how Amazon allegedly deployed an algorithm known internally as “Project Nessie” to increase prices of goods on its platform and in turn across the market. 

According to the regulator, the model identified the products for which other online stores would try to match Amazon’s prices. When turned on, the algorithm would raise prices for those goods, and keep those higher prices when other platforms followed suit.