US judge bans AI bot from shopping on Amazon

A US federal judge has temporarily banned Perplexity AI from using its Comet browser for purchases on Amazon. Comet is an AI agent that independently performs tasks on the web at the user's request, including logging into secure Amazon Prime accounts and completing the transaction.

Amazon sued the company for computer fraud. The lawsuit does not stem from a lack of user consent, but because Amazon, as the platform, never agreed to automated browsing by external software. The ban is temporary and Perplexity has seven days to appeal.

The broader legal battle regarding whether AI agents can make purchases on third-party platforms without platform consent remains undecided.

What is consent

This distinction between user consent and platform consent is at the core of the case. Perplexity argued that Comet simply performs what the user instructs, thereby earning the rights of the user. The judge temporarily rejected this reasoning and pointed to active opposition from Perplexity.

When Amazon implemented a technical block in August 2025, Perplexity released an update within 24 hours to bypass it.

Why Amazon is fighting back

Amazon has reasons to block the tool. It is working on its own solutions for personalised shopping advice with the help of AI; the bot is called Rufus and the feature is Help Me Decide.

AI shopping agents also skip a crucial step in the business model of platforms like Amazon: the search query. Value is generated throughout the entire shopping funnel, from initial interest to the point-of-sale, for which advertisers pay. A user ordering via Comet sees no sponsored results or paid placements. This affects Amazon, which recorded 68.6 billion dollars in advertising revenue in 2025, and all the brands that invest in paid visibility on the platforms.

Looking to the future, Amazon has already tightened its terms of use. As of March 4, 2026, all AI agents will be required to identify themselves if they want to access data on the site.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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