Amazon sues Perplexity over AI shopping agents

Dive Brief:

• Amazon sued Perplexity in U.S. District Court for Northern California on Tuesday to stop the AI company’s Comet agents from accessing the e-commerce website. The lawsuit follows a Friday cease and desist letter in which Amazon alleged Perplexity is “disguising Comet as a Google Chrome browser” and refusing to identify Comet AI agents when operating in the Amazon Store, making purchases on behalf of users without authorization.
• Amazon claims Perplexity’s covert AI agents are in violation of computer fraud and abuse statutes, noting it may be putting the security of customer data at risk. The lawsuit also alleges Perplexity does not allow users to shop for the best prices and misappropriated Prime membership benefits. Amazon is requesting compensatory damages and injunctive relief.
• Perplexity says the move from Amazon represents a “threat to user choice” and asserted that Amazon “does not believe in your right to hire labor, to have an assistant or an employee acting on your behalf,” per a Tuesday company post. 

Dive Insight:

Amazon’s legal move against Perplexity doesn’t appear to be a full indictment against third-party agentic commerce, but more an example of how Amazon wants to work with external agents on its own terms. 

In a separate statement on Tuesday, Amazon objected to Comet offering a “significantly degraded shopping and customer service experience,” something…