Amazon and Perplexity are beefing over AI shopping (www.businessinsider.com)

Perplexity, maker of the agentic AI browser Comet, says Amazon has sent an “aggressive legal threat” demanding Perplexity prohibit Comet users from using the AI assistant to shop on Amazon. Perplexity framed Amazon’s move as an attempt to block consumers from using third‑party assistants and protect ad- and sponsored-result revenue, while Amazon countered that third‑party apps that place orders on customers’ behalf must “operate openly and respect service provider decisions whether or not to participate,” and that Comet degrades the shopping and customer‑service experience. The startup called the notice a first legal salvo against an AI company and a broader threat to internet interoperability. The dispute matters because it tests how much autonomy agentic AIs should have when navigating and transacting on third‑party sites. Comet’s model can autonomously browse, select items and complete checkouts — capabilities that raise technical and policy issues around authentication, payment flows, scraping vs. APIs, rate limits, liability for bad purchases, and platform UX. The outcome could set precedents for access rules, developer obligations, and commercial integration between AI agents and major e‑commerce platforms, shaping whether future agentic tools can act as full digital shoppers or must rely on sanctioned APIs and partnerships.