Amazon demands Perplexity stop its AI agent from making purchases
What's the story
Amazon has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Perplexity, demanding the removal of its Comet browser agent from its platform. The e-commerce giant claims that Comet, an AI-powered shopping assistant, violates its terms of service by not disclosing itself as an agent. In response to Amazon's legal threats, Perplexity has publicly defended its position in a blog post titled "Bullying is not innovation."
Transparency requirement
Amazon calls for transparency in 3rd-party applications
Amazon has stressed the need for transparency from third-party applications that make purchases on behalf of customers. The company said, "We think it's fairly straightforward that third-party applications that offer to make purchases on behalf of customers from other businesses should operate openly and respect service provider decisions whether or not to participate."
Resumed operations
Comet agent also masqueraded as Google Chrome browser
Amazon's retail policies forbid "data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools." The e-commerce giant had previously warned Perplexity in November 2024 to halt the use of AI agents for purchases until a formal agreement was reached — a warning the start-up initially followed. However, Amazon alleges that by August 2025, Perplexity's Comet browser agent resumed making purchases on users' behalf, this time disguising itself as Google Chrome browser.
Counter allegations
Perplexity accuses Amazon of bullying
Perplexity has accused Amazon of using its market dominance to "bully a smaller competitor" developing a rival AI shopping agent. The company argued that since its agent acts on behalf of human user directions, it automatically gets the "same permissions" as the human user, and doesn't have to identify itself as an agent. However, Amazon's response highlighted that other third-party agents working at the behest of human users do identify themselves.
Legal defense
Perplexity's blog post slams Amazon's legal threat
In its blog post, Perplexity said, "This week, Perplexity received an aggressive legal threat from Amazon, demanding we prohibit Comet users from using their AI assistants on Amazon." The company argued that the move is a threat to all internet users. Perplexity also accused Amazon of wanting to block the shopping bot in order to sell advertising and product placements.