Federal Court Grants Amazon Injunction Against Perplexity’s AI Shopping Tool
A federal court has issued a temporary restraining order preventing AI startup Perplexity from using its Comet artificial intelligence browser to access Amazon’s website, following a legal dispute over unauthorized data scraping.
The e-commerce giant filed suit against Perplexity last November in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, claiming the company deliberately obscured its AI agents to continue harvesting data from Amazon’s platform without permission. Perplexity has characterized the legal action as intimidation tactics.
The disputed technology, known as Comet, enables users to search for products on Amazon through an AI assistant and complete transactions directly through the platform.
In her Monday decision, U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney determined that Amazon had presented compelling evidence demonstrating that Perplexity’s Comet browser was accessing the retailer’s website at users’ requests but lacked proper authorization from the company.
The judge noted that Amazon provided largely uncontested proof that it had invested over $5,000 addressing the unauthorized access, including significant employee hours dedicated to creating blocking mechanisms and preventing future intrusions into its private customer systems.
Based on this evidence, Judge Chesney concluded that Amazon had demonstrated a strong probability of prevailing in the case on its merits.
Amazon representative Maxine Tagay described the preliminary injunction as a crucial measure for preserving customer trust in the shopping platform, stating the company looks forward to presenting its full case in court.
In response, Perplexity issued a statement to CNBC affirming its commitment to defending internet users’ freedom to select their preferred AI tools.
The court order includes a seven-day pause period allowing Perplexity to file an appeal of the decision.
Amazon’s original legal filing outlined security concerns regarding Perplexity’s agents, arguing they pose risks to customer information by operating within secure systems, including password-protected personal accounts.
The retailer also highlighted operational challenges for its advertising division, explaining that AI-generated traffic requires detection and filtration before billing advertisers, who pay exclusively for genuine human engagement.
Amazon noted in its complaint that addressing automated traffic necessitates system modifications and new detection technologies to identify and exclude non-human interactions, ensuring compliance with advertiser agreements.
The company has implemented broad restrictions against AI agents across its shopping platforms, blocking numerous services including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, while developing proprietary alternatives such as Rufus, an integrated shopping assistant available on its website and mobile application.