Amazon loses US court ban on Perplexity's AI shopping tools
The ruling is the first federal appeals decision on whether AI agents can legally access online platforms, with broad implications for agentic shopping tools.
- On Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a ruling that temporarily barred Perplexity from using its Comet AI shopping tool on Amazon's platform, finding the technology does not violate federal computer-hacking laws.
- Amazon sued Perplexity in March, alleging the startup covertly accessed customer accounts via Comet and violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which Perplexity dismissed as a "bald attempt" to block ad-bypassing tools.
- Because Comet requires user direction, the appeals court determined it was the user who "accessed" Amazon's computers, not the company; an injunction "against conduct that likely does not violate the CFAA or the CDAFA would not serve the public interest."
- An Amazon spokesperson said the company "respectfully disagrees" with the decision and is evaluating next steps, including a potential Supreme Court appeal, while the underlying lawsuit continues in San Francisco federal court.
- The decision establishes a legal template for agentic AI that potentially threatens Amazon's ad-driven retail model, as blanket platform bans on such tools may struggle to survive legal scrutiny when users direct their use.
20 Articles
20 Articles
Court lets Perplexity’s AI agent shop on Amazon, overturning a ban
An AI agent can shop on Amazon whether Amazon likes it or not. A US appeals court has overturned an injunction that barred Perplexity’s shopping agent from the retailer, handing an early win to the software that browses and buys on people’s behalf. The Ninth Circuit ruled that Amazon’s core legal claim did not hold. […] This story continues at The Next Web
Amazon has thus unsuccessfully sued the use of perplexity on the trading platform. The verdict could have far-reaching consequences for the use of AI agents in online trading.
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