A federal judge has issued a temporary injunction preventing Perplexity, a startup known for its Comet artificial intelligence browser, from accessing Amazon's website. This ruling follows a lawsuit filed by Amazon in November, which accused Perplexity of unauthorized access to its site by disguising its AI agents to scrape data without permission.
In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney noted that Amazon presented strong evidence indicating that Comet accessed the site without authorization. Amazon claimed to have incurred over $5,000 in costs associated with efforts to prevent Comet from accessing its systems, which included developing tools to block the AI from accessing private customer data and preventing future unauthorized access.
Amazon's spokesperson emphasized that the injunction is a critical measure to ensure a trusted shopping experience for customers. The company expressed its intent to continue pursuing the case in court.
In response, Perplexity characterized Amazon's lawsuit as a "bully tactic" and stated that it is committed to advocating for users' rights to choose their preferred AI tools. The judge's ruling includes a one-week stay, giving Perplexity the opportunity to appeal the decision.
Amazon's complaint highlighted security concerns regarding customer data, suggesting that Perplexity's agents could potentially operate within protected systems, thus posing risks. Additionally, the company noted that the presence of AI systems generating ad traffic complicates its advertising operations, requiring changes to their systems to ensure that advertisers are only billed for legitimate human interactions.
As part of its broader strategy, Amazon has been actively blocking AI agents from accessing its shopping platforms while simultaneously investing in its proprietary solutions, such as its own AI shopping assistant, Rufus.