Perplexity Asks Federal Court to Lift Amazon Shopping Agent Ban

Perplexity has asked a federal appeals court to overturn an injunction that bars its AI shopping agent, Comet, from accessing Amazon, according to MediaPost. The company argued that directing an AI agent to shop on Amazon is no different from a user opening a browser and visiting the site.

Background of the dispute

The legal fight began in November, when Amazon sued Perplexity. Amazon alleged that Comet accessed password-protected customer accounts while disguising itself as a Google Chrome browser and ignored repeated warnings to stop, according to a March 10 report from The Verge.

In a March 9 order, Judge Chesney found that Comet accessed accounts with user permission but without Amazon authorization. A stay on the ban was granted on March 30, pending appeal.

Perplexity’s arguments on appeal

In its appellate filing, Perplexity said its users accessed Amazon through Comet rather than Perplexity itself. The company wrote: “A Comet user accessing Amazon from her own computer is no more equivalent to Perplexity accessing Amazon than a Safari user accessing Amazon from her own computer is equivalent to Apple accessing Amazon.”

Perplexity also argued that Amazon did not show actual harm during the eight months Comet operated freely. It cited the absence of lost sales, decreased traffic, or records of dissatisfied customers.

Amazon’s position and industry implications

The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon’s win is being viewed across the retail industry as a signal that platforms may be able to keep third-party AI agents away from their customers. The report said this could be partly because such agents bypass the ads and sponsored listings that drive revenue.

Amazon generated roughly $68.6 billion in advertising revenue in 2025, and it argued in its complaint that filtering out Comet’s automated traffic required building new detection systems, according to CNBC.

In response, Perplexity told the court: “AI agents don’t have eyeballs to see the pervasive advertising Amazon bombards its users with.”

How retailers are responding

Amazon has blocked dozens of outside agents from its platform, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, while building its own shopping assistant, Rufus. Amazon said Rufus drove nearly $12 billion in incremental annualized sales in 2025, according to February earnings materials.

Walmart and Target have taken a different approach, testing ways to work with third-party AI shopping tools while maintaining their own role in the transaction, as previously covered by PYMNTS.

Consumer demand for AI shopping

Consumer behavior is moving in a direction both companies are competing to capture. According to PYMNTS Intelligence, 70% of consumers say they are open to using AI agents for shopping, and nearly half say they would allow an agent to handle both routine and larger purchases on their behalf.

More than half of consumers who rely primarily on AI platforms prefer to complete purchases inside those environments rather than hand off to a retailer’s site.

What the appeals court could determine

The appeals court ruling is expected to shape whether third-party AI agents can operate on the country’s largest shopping platform.