San Francisco: Amazon has filed a lawsuit against Perplexity AI, accusing the fast-growing AI startup of illegally accessing private Amazon customer accounts through its ‘Comet’ browser and automated AI agent, which reportedly placed orders and browsed products while disguising automated activity as human behavior.
Filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, the suit claims Perplexity’s system posed security risks to customer data and ignored multiple cease requests. Amazon stated that Perplexity “purposely configured its software to conceal its activities,” asserting that such digital intrusion remains unlawful despite occurring via code rather than physical means.
Perplexity, which markets itself as a next-generation AI assistant platform, previously dismissed Amazon’s allegations as an attempt to suppress competition and innovation.
The company maintains that its AI agent stores user credentials locally, ensuring privacy and control, while accusing Amazon of leveraging its dominance to “block innovation and restrict user choice.”
Amazon argues that the AI startup’s practices degrade the shopping experience and undermine its curated system designed to deliver personalized recommendations. The retail giant emphasized that third-party AI tools should operate transparently and respect businesses’ boundaries.
Both companies are advancing in the AI-driven commerce race,Amazon with its ‘Buy For Me’ and ‘Rufus’ assistants, and Perplexity with its ‘Comet’ browser designed to perform autonomous online actions such as product comparisons and purchases.
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