By Brian Warmoth
Publication Date: 2026-03-18 19:06:00
A legal battle between the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered discovery platform Perplexity and Amazon spilled over to a U.S. appeals court following a judge’s order on March 9.
U.S. District Judge Maxin Chesney ordered that Perplexity should not be allowed to access password-protected information on Amazon’s site. That order came in response to Amazon’s request for a preliminary injunction, halting activity taking place through Perplexity Comet web browser.
However, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted that order on March 16. It gave Perplexity a temporary window to continue operating as it had been previously. Meanwhile, Perplexity continues to appeal the district court’s decision from March 9.
Why Perplexity will temporarily have to access Amazon.com
“The request for an administrative stay is granted,” the March 16 filing at the Court of Appeals reads. “The district court’s March 9, 2026 order is temporarily stayed pending resolution of the motion for a stay pending appeal.”
The latest decision pre-empted the March 9 order from going into effect on March 17, potentially stopping Perplexity’s Comet browser from using Amazon’s website, even when Comet users are logged in with their Amazon credentials.
“In the instant case, Amazon has provided strong evidence that Perplexity, through its Comet browser, accesses with the Amazon user’s permission but without authorization by Amazon, the user’s password-protected…
