A federal judge has temporarily blocked Perplexity from using its Comet web browser agent to make purchases on behalf of shoppers from Amazon’s online marketplace.
Amazon sued Perplexity last November, saying the startup took steps to “conceal” its AI agents so they could continue to scrape the online retailer’s website without its approval.
Perplexity claimed that the lawsuit was a bullying tactic.
Monday’s ruling put a temporary order in place while both sides argue the legality of using tools designed by one company to make purchases on another company’s website without that company’s consent.
“Amazon has provided strong evidence that Perplexity, through its Comet browser, accesses with the Amazon user’s permission but without authorisation by Amazon, the user’s password-protected account,” wrote District Judge Maxine Chesney, who is presiding over the case in San Francisco federal court.
Amazon welcomed the ruling, saying it is an important step to maintain a trusted shopping experience for customers.
“The preliminary injunction will prevent Perplexity’s unauthorised access to the Amazon store and is an important step in maintaining a trusted shopping experience for Amazon customers,” Amazon spokesperson Lara Hendrickson said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg.
“We look forward to continuing to make our case in court.”
Perplexity told CNBC that it “will continue to fight for the right of internet users to choose whatever AI they want.”
This highlights the issue of courts being asked to establish guardrails for so-called AI agents that are beginning to handle more complex tasks online, including shopping.
It is thought that the widespread use of these AI agents could disrupt the US$350 billion digital advertising market in the U.S., in which retailers and brands pay for prime placement in Google and Amazon search results as well as social media feeds.
In 2025, Amazon generated $68.6 billion from advertising revenue.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has also invested in Perpelexity, which was recently valued at US$20 billion and has laid out ambitions to reshape web search and other online tasks with AI-powered tools.
At the time of writing, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) stock rose 0.39% to $214.33. Its market cap is $2.30 trillion.
