Amazon Loses Court Battle to Block Perplexity’s AI-powered Shopping Agents

Amazon has lost a legal battle to block Perplexity’s AI-powered shopping agents from accessing its platform after a US appeals court overturned a temporary ban on the technology.

 

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Amazon was unlikely to succeed in its claim that Perplexity’s AI agents violated a federal computer hacking law by accessing the e-commerce platform.

 

The decision marks the first ruling by a federal appeals court on whether artificial intelligence agents acting on behalf of users can legally access online platforms — a question with significant implications for the rapidly expanding field of agentic AI.

 

Agentic AI systems are designed to independently plan, reason and complete tasks with limited human supervision, including browsing websites, shopping and carrying out transactions.

 

Amazon had sued San Francisco-based AI startup Perplexity in November, alleging that its Comet browser and AI agent accessed private customer accounts without authorisation and placed orders on users’ behalf. The company argued that the technology created security risks and ignored repeated requests to stop accessing its platform.

 

A California federal judge had temporarily blocked Perplexity’s AI shopping agent from operating on Amazon in March, after finding that Amazon had provided “strong evidence” that the tool may have breached the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

 

However, the appeals court overturned the injunction, agreeing with Perplexity’s argument that the company itself did not “access” Amazon’s systems under the law. Instead, the court said it was Perplexity’s users who accessed Amazon through the AI agents.

 

“We respectfully disagree with today’s decision on the preliminary injunction,” an Amazon spokesperson said, adding that the company remained confident in its case and was considering its next steps.

 

Perplexity welcomed the ruling, saying it would continue defending users’ ability to choose the AI tools they use online.

 

“Perplexity will continue to fight for the right of internet users to choose whatever AI they want,” company spokesperson Jesse Dwyer said.

 

The dispute highlights growing tensions between major online platforms and AI companies over automated agents that can navigate websites, interact with accounts and complete tasks traditionally performed by human users.

 

As AI agents become increasingly capable of shopping, booking services and managing online activities, courts are likely to face more questions over data access, user consent, cybersecurity and the limits of automated digital assistants.

 

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