Amazon’s legal fight with Perplexity AI is more than a dispute over one browser agent. The case centers on whether an AI tool can shop online for a person when a platform says automated access is not allowed.
At issue is Comet, Perplexity’s AI browser. Amazon says the agent made purchases on behalf of users without authorization. Perplexity says Amazon is trying to block competition and restrict how people choose digital assistants.
What Amazon Says Comet Did
Amazon has filed a lawsuit against Perplexity AI in U.S. federal court. The company is asking the court to stop Comet from purchasing products on Amazon for users.
According to the complaint filed in San Francisco, Amazon accuses Perplexity of unauthorized access and violating its terms of service. Those terms prohibit automated tools such as "data mining, robots, or similar extraction tools."
Amazon claims Perplexity made its AI agents appear to be ordinary Chrome browser users. The company alleges "computer fraud" and says Perplexity did not disclose that Comet was acting autonomously for real people.
The timeline matters. Amazon first asked Perplexity to stop deploying such agents in November 2024. By August 2025, Amazon says a new version of Comet was again active. Amazon then blocked access, and Perplexity allegedly bypassed that block with a new workaround.
Why Transparency Is Central To The Dispute
Amazon frames the case around openness, user protection, and control over its shopping platform. Amazon spokesperson Lara Hendrickson said third-party AI services must "operate openly and respect a service provider’s decision whether or not to participate."
The company argues that Comet hurts the shopping experience. Amazon cites inaccurate delivery estimates, poor recommendations, and inconsistent pricing as problems linked to the way the agent operates.
In the court filing, Amazon compared Comet’s actions to those of an "intruder." It said the fact that the intrusion involves code "makes it no less unlawful."
Amazon also points to its own AI shopping work. In April, the company began testing "Buy For Me", a feature that allows in-app purchases from external websites. Another assistant, "Rufus", is designed to recommend products and add them to carts.
CEO Andy Jassy has said Amazon is exploring more AI agents. But he has also stressed that the technology must support a positive and transparent customer experience.
Perplexity Says Users Should Choose Their Assistant
Perplexity sees the lawsuit very differently. Founder and CEO Aravind Srinivas called it "bullying" by a market giant. The company argues Amazon is trying to suppress competition.
Srinivas said users should be able to choose which assistant helps them shop on Amazon. He added, "Agents should have all the same rights and responsibilities as real human users. It’s not Amazon’s job to monitor that."
In a blog post, Perplexity described Amazon’s cease-and-desist letter as "an aggressive legal threat." The company rejected claims that Comet scrapes or trains on Amazon data.
Perplexity says Comet simply carries out purchases under direct user instruction. The post also accused Amazon of trying to "eliminate user rights" so it can maintain control over advertising-driven shopping results.
That advertising issue is one of the broader commercial stakes. The growing use of AI shopping tools could threaten Amazon’s advertising business, which relies on sponsored product placements.
A Platform Fight With Business Ties
The dispute has a notable business complication. Perplexity is a customer of Amazon Web Services, and Srinivas says it has made "hundreds of millions" in spending commitments with AWS.
Amazon had previously showcased Perplexity in 2023 as a success story during its cloud conference. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is also an investor in the startup.
Those ties do not soften the legal conflict. Amazon says it remains open to collaboration, while Jassy recently told investors that the current user experience of AI shopping agents is "not good." He also said Amazon is "having conversations" with builders of such tools.
Why The Case Could Matter Beyond Amazon
The case, Amazon.com Services LLC v. Perplexity AI Inc., could become an early court precedent for agentic AI in online commerce. The basic question is direct: when an AI agent acts for a person, should a website treat it like the user, a bot, or something else?
The answer could affect how AI shopping agents identify themselves, how platforms enforce terms of service, and how much control users have when delegating online tasks to autonomous software.
The conflict also fits a wider pattern around Perplexity. The company has previously faced criticism from publishers and Reddit over alleged misuse or scraping of content without permission. Perplexity has defended itself by saying it would "always fight vigorously for users’ rights to freely and fairly access public knowledge."
For now, the Amazon lawsuit highlights a boundary that remains unsettled. AI agents can act more like online users, but platforms still want to decide when automation is welcome, when it must be disclosed, and when it crosses into unauthorized use.