Amazon won a preliminary injunction on March 9, 2026, restricting Perplexity’s Comet AI agents from accessing Amazon’s protected computer systems and using Amazon accounts for that access. The lawsuit is not over: Perplexity appealed the injunction in the Ninth Circuit, and a jury trial is scheduled for September 27, 2027.
The dispute is narrower—and more consequential—than a headline saying “Amazon banned AI shopping.” It tests whether a website can block an AI agent from authenticated areas after withdrawing permission, even when the agent operates through a customer’s own account.
What Amazon actually sued over
Amazon.com Services LLC filed Amazon.com Services LLC v. Perplexity AI, Inc., Case No. 25-cv-09514-MMC, in the Northern District of California on November 4, 2025. Amazon alleges that Comet, Perplexity’s agentic browser, could search products, compare information, navigate customer accounts and take shopping-related actions while presenting itself like ordinary Google Chrome traffic.
Amazon says Comet continued accessing its systems after Amazon told Perplexity that this form of access was not authorized. Its complaint invokes the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), California Penal Code § 502(c)(7), and Amazon’s Conditions of Use. These are Amazon’s allegations and legal theories; the preliminary injunction is interim relief, not a final finding that every allegation was proved.
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Amazon’s public explanation and the complaint are available at Amazon’s statement and the filed complaint.
How Comet’s agentic browsing differs from a normal shopping search
An agentic browser does more than return links. Software deployed through Comet can autonomously or semi-autonomously interact with third-party websites for a user. In a shopping session, that can mean:
- Finding products and comparing prices or delivery options.
- Opening a password-protected account area.
- Adding items to a cart or fitting them into an existing delivery.
- Using information available only after login, such as order history or saved preferences.
- Potentially proceeding toward checkout at the user’s instruction.
The legal and financial risk changes sharply when an agent moves from a public product page to an authenticated account, stored payment method or purchase decision. “Find running shoes under $100” leaves choices to the software; “buy the best one” requires the agent to define “best” and may commit the user’s money.
The central factual dispute
Amazon’s account of Comet
Amazon says Comet did not clearly identify itself as an AI agent, resembled Chrome traffic, and kept operating after warnings on September 12 and September 29, 2025. Amazon also raises security, privacy and customer-experience concerns, including the risk that an outside agent could omit seller details, coupon conditions, return terms or delivery-bundling options. Its October 31 cease-and-desist letter is published here.
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Perplexity’s response
Perplexity says Comet is a Chromium-based browser with AI features, not a deceptive bot, and that it acts through the purchaser’s own Amazon account. It argues that Amazon is trying to exclude a competing shopping interface while operating its own assistant, Rufus. Perplexity also disputes the specificity of Amazon’s security concerns and says an update that restored access after an August 19 block was routine maintenance, not deliberate circumvention.
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Perplexity separately distinguishes Comet from an earlier “Buy with Pro” feature. According to its opposition, Buy with Pro used Perplexity-managed Amazon accounts and was disabled after Amazon objected; Comet did not yet exist at that time. Those positions appear in Perplexity’s opposition.
What the March 9, 2026 injunction does
| Provision | Practical effect |
|---|---|
| Access restriction | Perplexity and covered parties may not access, attempt to access, assist, instruct or provide a means for others to access Amazon’s protected computer systems using AI agents. |
| Account restriction | They may not use, create or take over Amazon accounts to enable that prohibited AI-agent access. |
| Data destruction | Amazon data, including customer data obtained through the prohibited access, must be destroyed. |
| Compliance | Perplexity must notify relevant personnel and certify compliance after the Ninth Circuit rules on the administrative stay. |
The district court administratively stayed the injunction for seven days so Perplexity could seek relief from the Ninth Circuit, but denied a broader stay pending appeal. The order remains interim relief and can be modified or end when the case is resolved. Read the injunction or its PDF.
Why the CFAA question is difficult
Public pages versus protected systems
The injunction concerns Amazon’s protected computer systems, not a blanket ruling that viewing a public product page with software is unlawful. A public listing, a logged-in order-history page and a checkout using stored payment credentials involve different access boundaries and risks.
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Perplexity says the customer authorized Comet by using the customer’s account. Amazon’s position is that a customer’s permission does not necessarily authorize a third-party AI provider to access Amazon in a manner Amazon has expressly prohibited. Whether revocation, technical controls and account authorization satisfy the CFAA’s authorization rules remains contested.
Terms of service are not automatically “hacking”
Amazon relies on its Conditions of Use and California’s computer-access statute as well as the CFAA. A terms-of-service breach does not automatically answer the statutory question; the court must still decide what access was authorized and whether the legal elements are met.
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What this means for consumers and businesses
Consumers delegating purchases
Before allowing an agent to shop through an account, users should check whether it can transmit passwords, session tokens, payment details or shopping history to the provider’s servers; require confirmation before checkout; and verify seller, shipping, subscription, coupon and return information themselves. An agent’s summary may be incomplete even when its access is permitted.
Retailers and other account-based services
Retailers, travel sites, delivery services and banks face the same design choice: permit agents through an official API or partnership, require machine-readable identification, impose rate and transaction limits, or block them at authentication boundaries. Clear identity signals can separate autonomous activity from ordinary browser traffic, but blocking a browser that identifies like Chromium can also risk affecting legitimate users.
The security boundary
Agents reading arbitrary pages can encounter malicious instructions, stale data or misleading product information. Those are technical risks inherent in agentic browsing, not factual findings that Comet exploited a prompt injection in this case.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| November 2024 | Perplexity says the separate Buy with Pro feature used managed accounts and was disabled after Amazon’s objection. |
| August 4, 2025 | Perplexity says Amazon raised concerns about Comet’s identification. |
| August 19, 2025 | Perplexity says Amazon blocked Comet users; it characterizes a later access-restoring update as routine maintenance. |
| September 12 and 29, 2025 | Amazon says it warned that Comet was not authorized to access the store without identifying as an AI agent. |
| October 31, 2025 | Amazon sent a cease-and-desist letter citing the CFAA, California Penal Code § 502 and its Conditions of Use. |
| November 4, 2025 | Amazon filed suit and sought a preliminary injunction. |
| March 9, 2026 | The district court granted preliminary injunctive relief. |
| March–May 2026 | Perplexity appealed in Ninth Circuit docket 26-1444; the public docket lists briefing through May 7, 2026. |
| May 18, 2026 | The district court set a jury trial for September 27, 2027. |
What happens next
The Ninth Circuit appeal concerns the preliminary injunction, not a final determination of liability. The public appellate docket reviewed through August 18, 2026 does not establish a final disposition. In the district court, nonexpert discovery is scheduled to close February 12, 2027, expert discovery May 28, 2027, and dispositive motions are due June 25, 2027. The trial schedule is in the court’s May 18 order.
The eventual precedent could determine whether merchants may demand agent identification, opt-in access or approved APIs before allowing software to act inside customer accounts. It could also clarify when a user’s authorization ends and a platform’s access controls begin.
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