Amazon sues AI startup over browser's automated shopping and buying feature (www.theguardian.com)

Amazon has sued AI startup Perplexity, alleging its Comet browser and associated AI agent covertly accessed customer accounts and automated purchases on the retail site while disguising that activity as human browsing. Amazon claims this behavior undermines customer security, degrades the tailored shopping experience it provides, and flouts repeated requests to stop; Perplexity denies wrongdoing, says user credentials remain stored locally, and accuses Amazon of using legal pressure to block competition and limit user choice. The case centers on whether AI agents can autonomously act on users’ behalf on third‑party sites and how those actions should be identified and regulated. The dispute highlights a growing technical and policy flashpoint for AI/ML: autonomous agents that emulate human browsing raise authentication, consent, bot‑detection and data‑security questions, and challenge current web business models and terms of service. Beyond this lawsuit, the outcome could affect industry practices such as how sites authenticate agent-driven sessions (tokens, CAPTCHAs, explicit API endpoints), how assistants disclose automated actions, and whether platforms must permit or can block third‑party agents. It also underscores why major retailers are building their own shopping assistants (Amazon’s Buy For Me, Rufus) — a move that combines competitive strategy with control over how automation interacts with commerce.