Amazon loses US court ban on Perplexity's AI shopping tools

A U.S. appeals court has reversed a ruling that had temporarily blocked Perplexity, an AI startup, from using its AI-powered shopping tools on Amazon's platform. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Amazon is unlikely to win its case alleging that Perplexity's AI agents violated a federal computer-hacking law.

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Perplexity will continue to fight for the right of internet users to choose whatever AI they want.

This decision marks a significant moment as it is the first by a federal appeals court to address the legality of AI agents accessing online platforms. The case has broad implications for the rapidly growing field of agentic AI tools, which can browse, shop, and transact across the web with limited human oversight.

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We have always been confident the truth will prevail and the rights of users will not be chipped away.

Amazon had sued Perplexity in November, accusing the AI startup of covertly accessing private customer accounts through its Comet browser and AI agent. Amazon claimed Perplexity's system posed security risks and ignored repeated requests to cease operations. Perplexity countered that the lawsuit was baseless and an attempt to block users from employing Comet, arguing that AI agents should not be subjected to Amazon's pervasive advertising.

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Amazon sued Perplexity in November, accusing the AI startup of covertly accessing ​private Amazon customer accounts through its Comet browser and associated AI agent, which can log into users' ​online shopping accounts and place orders on their behalf.

Previously, a federal judge in California had temporarily blocked Perplexity in March, citing "strong evidence" that the AI agent violated a U.S. computer fraud and abuse law. However, the 9th Circuit favored Perplexity's argument, stating that it was the users, employing Perplexity's AI agents, who "accessed" Amazon's platform under the law, rather than Perplexity itself.

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The lawsuit lacked merit and was a 'bald attempt' to block ​Amazon users from using Comet because AI agents 'don’t have eyeballs to see the pervasive advertising Amazon ​bombards its users with.'