Amazon and Perplexity are fighting over the future of AI shopping (www.engadget.com)

Amazon has sent a cease-and-desist to AI startup Perplexity demanding its Comet browser stop making purchases on Amazon, arguing the agent violates Amazon’s Conditions of Use by using account data for third-party benefit and employing “data mining, robots, or similar” tools. Perplexity counters that Comet acts as an agent of the user—storing credentials locally and executing purchases at a user's command—and calls Amazon’s demand “bullying.” The two had briefly paused agentic shopping in late 2024, but Perplexity resumed the capability and — by representing Comet as a Chrome user rather than a bot — allegedly attempted to bypass the agreement until Amazon intervened. The clash matters because it tests technical and legal boundaries for “agentic” tools that can act on behalf of authenticated users. Key issues: how platforms distinguish between user-driven browser automation and prohibited scraping or bot activity; risks to privacy and customer experience when third parties hold credentials and transact on users’ behalf; and competitive tension with incumbents (Amazon demoed its own AI shopper, “Buy for Me”). Perplexity’s recent run-ins with Cloudflare and Reddit underscore growing platform pushback. The dispute’s outcome will shape developer practices, platform policies, and legal precedent for AI agents interacting with logged-in services.