Summary
- Amazon sued Perplexity to block the use of AI agents for shopping, alleging fraud and violating terms of use.
- Perplexity accuses Amazon of bullying to limit competition and consumer choices.
- The case could set a legal precedent on the use of AIs for online browsing and shopping.
Amazon has filed a lawsuit to stop Perplexity’s Comet browser from using artificial intelligence agents to make in-store purchases. The technology giant considers that the startup commits electronic fraud by not identifying that the order is being placed by an automatic system.
“Amazon’s request is simple: Perplexity must be transparent when employing its artificial intelligence. Just like any other attacker, Perplexity is not allowed to access areas that have been explicitly prohibited. The fact that it uses code instead of tools to break security does not make the practice any less illegal,” says the document sent by Amazon to the court.
According to sources consulted by Bloombergthe fight started before the process: Amazon sent, last Friday (10/31), a letter requesting that Perplexity stop this feature. In the document, big tech argues that AI agents worsen the shopping experience on its website and create security vulnerabilities. The robot would violate the e-commerce terms of use.
Perplexity accuses Amazon of “bullying”
In response, Perplexity stated that the action “only proves that Amazon bullies”. In a statement published on its blog, the startup accuses the retail giant of preventing competing AI and reducing consumer options.
Aravind Srivinas, CEO of Perplexity, said the startup is not collecting data from Amazon, much less using information to train its AI models. He also states that the retailer’s intention is to prevent users from being able to circumvent the advertisements displayed in the online store.
Future of AI agents is at stake
The outcome of the lawsuit could set a legal precedent for what AIs of this type can do. Giants like Google and OpenAI have been betting on tools to browse the internet using only prompts written in natural language.
AI agents promise to be able to take over tasks from users. For example: instead of entering an online store, finding the desired products, placing them in the cart and completing the purchase, the consumer could simply write “buy items X, Y and Z in the XPTO store”. (Spoiler: In practice, this still doesn’t work so well.)
The context of the lawsuit filed by Amazon is a little more complex. In April 2025, the retailer began offering a tool called Buy For Me (“buy for me”, in free translation), which uses AI to make purchases directly in brand stores, without having to leave the application. Another feature is the Rufus assistant, which can navigate the website, recommend products and place items in the cart.
As noted by Bloombergthe Amazon website’s terms of use prohibit “any use of data mining, robots, or similar data extraction and collection tools.”
Sources interviewed by the publication say that, in November 2024, the retailer asked Perplexity to suspend AI agents capable of making purchases until the two companies reached an agreement. At the time, the startup agreed.
With information from Bloomberg
Source: https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/amazon-processa-perplexity-e-quer-impedir-compras-feitas-por-robos-de-ia/
