By Yevgeny Demkivskyi
Publication Date: 2026-08-05 08:00:00
A US Court of Appeal has overturned a preliminary injunction that restricted the use of Comet’s AI browser agents for shopping on Amazon. The court ruled that Amazon is unlikely to be able to prove a breach of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), as stated in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling, which is analysed by Reuters.
The court agreed with Perplexity’s argument that users accessed the Amazon platform via AI agents, rather than the start-up itself. The CFAA prohibits the unauthorised retrieval of information from computer systems; however, in this case, users logged into their own Amazon accounts and instructed the agent to make the purchase.
This is the first ruling by a US federal court of appeal regarding AI agents accessing online platforms on behalf of users. It may influence the development of agent systems capable of independently browsing websites, comparing products and placing orders.
The ruling does not settle the legal dispute between the companies. It merely lifts the previous injunction whilst the courts consider the substance of Amazon’s claim.
Amazon filed a lawsuit against Perplexity in November 2025. The company alleges that the Comet agent covertly accessed shoppers’ private accounts, posed security risks and continued to operate after being ordered to cease access.
Amazon is also stepping up its efforts to combat unauthorised automated data collection from its platform. As a result,…
