Amazon issues legal warning to Perplexity over AI shopping tool

Amazon has issued a legal threat to Perplexity AI, demanding that the startup block its Comet browser’s AI agent from making purchases on Amazon’s platform for users.

Perplexity AI, a US-based company that develops AI-powered assistants, has disputed Amazon’s claims and accused the ecommerce firm of using its market dominance to stifle competition.

Amazon said third-party applications that place orders on behalf of customers must operate openly and respect the decisions of service providers.

The company had repeatedly asked Perplexity to remove Amazon from the Comet experience, citing concerns about a significantly degraded shopping and customer service experience.

As of November 5, Perplexity had not removed Amazon from the Comet experience.

🔗 Source: Amazon

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Amazon rules limit automated tools; Comet may breach them

Amazon’s Conditions of Use ban third‑party use of account info and data mining, robots or similar tools 1. Comet is an AI‑enabled web browser that completes purchases for users and stores login credentials on the device, then automates checkout, which may breach those rules depending on interpretation 2.
In November 2024, Amazon warned Perplexity 2. Both sides paused agentic shopping (AI agents autonomously browsing and purchasing on behalf of users) 2. After Comet launched, Perplexity turned it back on and allegedly tried to avoid detection by presenting as a Chrome user 2.
Courts lack clear rules for AI agents so the line between browsing, scraping and agent access remains messy 3. Amazon is relying on its Conditions of Use to push back on Comet instead of novel theories 1.

Build compliant agent shopping with approved checkout APIs

Shopify offers a Storefront API for custom checkout with merchant permission through a GraphQL endpoint (a query language and runtime for APIs) 4. It supports viewing, add to cart and checkout 4.
Teams building AI shopping agents should pick platforms that allow third‑party checkout via official APIs 4. Shopify ships SDKs (software development kits) for JavaScript, iOS and Android 4.
Investors should back startups that partner with retailers through approved APIs to reduce legal risk and build defensible moats (durable advantages) 5. Amazon has hinted at future partnerships for AI shopping tools that work transparently and improve customer experience 5.