Amazon won an early legal victory this week when a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking Perplexity from using the Comet browser’s artificial intelligence shopping agent to access password-protected parts of Amazon’s site and make purchases on behalf of users.
The order, handed down Monday by U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney in Northern California, gives Amazon a near-term win in what is shaping up as one of the first major courtroom tests of agentic commerce. Enforcement was paused for seven days to allow an appeal, and Reuters reported that Perplexity appealed on Tuesday.
The judge found Amazon had presented “strong evidence” that Perplexity’s tool was accessing Amazon systems unlawfully. The ruling turned on a distinction that could matter well beyond this case: Comet may have had the user’s permission, but not Amazon’s authorization, to enter logged-in areas of the site. The injunction also bars Perplexity from reaching password-protected Amazon accounts, including Prime accounts, and requires the company to destroy Amazon data it had previously collected through the tool.
The Wall Street Journal framed the decision as an early signal that retailers may be able to keep outside AI agents from standing between them and their customers. That matters because shopping bots do more than automate checkout. They can also bypass ads, sponsored listings and other high-margin parts of the online storefront.
As the Journal noted, retailers are racing to adapt to a world in which consumers use AI to compare products and make purchases, while merchants try to protect customer relationships, data and advertising revenue. Amazon’s position is especially notable because advertising has become a major business line for the company.
The case started in November, when Amazon sued Perplexity, alleging computer fraud and unauthorized access tied to Comet’s automated shopping feature. Amazon said the system covertly entered customer accounts and masked bot activity as human browsing, creating security and trust concerns.
Perplexity has argued the suit is really about control, saying users should be free to choose their own AI tools. The larger backdrop is that other retailers are taking a more experimental approach: Walmart and Target, for example, have been testing ways to work with AI shopping platforms while still preserving their own role in the transaction.
For all PYMNTS AI coverage, subscribe to the daily AI Newsletter.