A federal judge granted Amazon a preliminary injunction on March 9, 2026, aimed at stopping Perplexity’s Comet AI agents from accessing protected Amazon systems and using accounts to shop or make purchases. But the order was not a final judgment: it included a seven-day administrative stay, and the Ninth Circuit later stayed the injunction while Perplexity appealed. The case does not establish that AI shopping agents are generally illegal or that ordinary Amazon browsing is prohibited.
What the judge’s order prohibited
In the Northern District of California, Judge Maxine M. Chesney’s March 9, 2026 preliminary injunction barred Perplexity and related parties from accessing or attempting to access Amazon’s protected computer systems through AI agents, and from helping others do so. It also addressed Amazon accounts and data obtained through the disputed access. Read the court order.
- Perplexity could not use AI agents to access or attempt to access Amazon’s protected systems.
- It could not assist, instruct, or provide a means for others to make that agent access.
- It could not create, use, or take over Amazon accounts for the purpose of enabling the agents’ access.
- It was directed to destroy Amazon data obtained through the agents’ access.
The order defined an AI agent to include software deployed through Comet that could autonomously or semi-autonomously interact with third-party websites for a user or at a user’s direction. Its focus was the agentic functionality operating inside Amazon’s protected systems, not the mere existence of the Comet browser.
What the order did not establish
The injunction did not say that every AI assistant, browser extension, or automated tool is unlawful. Nor did it amount to a general ban on reading public product pages, ordinary manual browsing in Chrome or another browser, or all forms of automation. The legal dispute centered on access to protected Amazon systems and account functions through Perplexity’s agents.
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- A person manually visiting Amazon is different from an agent operating inside an account.
- An assistant summarizing public product information is different from one that logs in, changes a cart, selects shipping, or submits an order.
- The order does not resolve whether every form of scraping or automated access violates federal law.
Why the injunction is not a final ban
A preliminary injunction is interim relief issued before a final trial or merits judgment. Amazon had to show, among other factors, a likelihood of success, likely irreparable harm, and that the balance of equities and public interest favored an injunction. The district court found Amazon had presented strong evidence that Comet accessed password-protected accounts with user permission but without Amazon’s authorization. That preliminary assessment is not the same as a final finding after a full trial.
The March order included a seven-day administrative stay and denied Perplexity’s request for a stay pending appeal. Perplexity appealed to the Ninth Circuit, where the injunction was subsequently stayed pending review. The appeal is docketed as No. 26-1444; the docket listed oral argument for June 11, 2026. See the Ninth Circuit docket. The materials cited here do not establish a later merits decision, so the safe description is that Amazon won preliminary relief in district court, subject to appeal—not that it permanently defeated Perplexity.
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Why Amazon objected to Comet
Amazon’s position is that third-party applications making purchases for customers should identify themselves openly and respect a retailer’s decision about whether to participate. In a public statement, Amazon said agentic applications should operate transparently; in its cease-and-desist letter, it accused Comet of covertly accessing its systems, presenting itself as Chrome, and failing to identify its AI agents clearly. Those are Amazon’s allegations, not all independently established findings. Amazon’s public statement and cease-and-desist letter set out its position.
Amazon also argued that agent access could degrade shopping and customer service and create security or privacy risks. Those concerns reflect the stakes of delegating transactions: an agent may encounter account pages, order history, checkout choices, sellers, and delivery options. If an agent picks the wrong item or shipping option, the customer may hold the retailer responsible, even when a third party made the selection. Amazon has its own commercial interest in controlling how its marketplace is accessed and how customers interact with it.
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Perplexity’s response
Perplexity argued that its agent acts at the direction of a user who is entitled to access that user’s account, and that Amazon was using the law to exclude a competing AI shopping tool. In this view, supplying valid credentials and requesting an action means the agent is helping the customer perform something the customer can do directly. Amazon’s contrary view is that customer permission does not itself authorize a third-party company’s access after Amazon has objected.
Perplexity also argued that the injunction could cause substantial commercial harm, including losses to Comet’s market position, users, reputation, and investment. Court materials show it sought a bond of at least $1 billion if an injunction were issued, based on its asserted business value and investment in Comet. That request is an argument about potential harm, not a judicial finding that the stated amount represents damages.
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The legal question: whose authorization counts?
The central dispute concerns the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), an anti-hacking law that predates modern AI agents. The question is whether an agent can violate the law by accessing a password-protected service at a customer’s direction when the platform has rejected that agent or attempted to block its automated traffic.
- User authorization: The customer may have the right to log in and perform actions in the account.
- Platform authorization: The retailer may argue that it has not authorized the AI company or its automated system to access the account.
- Technical conduct: The dispute may depend on whether the agent merely uses a customer-authorized route or circumvents barriers, disguises automated traffic, or continues after access is expressly barred.
The court’s preliminary ruling did not settle how the CFAA applies to all agents. It also did not establish that a terms-of-service violation, by itself, is necessarily a CFAA violation. Ninth Circuit precedent distinguishes questions about access to protected areas from restrictions on how an authorized user may use information; the application of those distinctions to user-directed agents is contested. During the appeal, a Ninth Circuit panel reportedly raised concerns about unintended consequences of applying the statute to AI shopping tools. Law360’s case coverage tracks that appellate dispute.
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How the dispute reached the appeal
- October 31, 2025: Amazon sent Perplexity a cease-and-desist letter demanding that it stop using or deploying Comet agents on Amazon.
- November 4, 2025: Amazon publicly said agentic third-party applications should operate openly and respect a retailer’s participation decision.
- December 2025–January 2026: The parties briefed Amazon’s request for preliminary relief, including supplemental filings and exhibits about shopping-agent products, terms, and customer materials.
- March 9, 2026: The district court granted Amazon’s preliminary injunction, with a seven-day administrative stay.
- March 10–11, 2026: Perplexity appealed to the Ninth Circuit as No. 26-1444; the injunction was later stayed pending appeal.
- April–June 2026: The appeal proceeded through briefing, and oral argument was scheduled for June 11.
The district-court docket and Ninth Circuit docket provide procedural records.
What this means for shoppers and AI developers
Users should not assume that an AI agent is authorized to access a service simply because they supplied their password or asked it to shop. A platform’s rules, technical access controls, and court orders are separate issues from what a customer can do manually. Developers face a related design question: whether an agent clearly identifies itself, uses permitted access methods, and limits actions to what the user has specifically approved.
The case could matter beyond retail because similar disputes may arise when agents interact with logged-in airline, travel, banking, delivery, or social-media accounts. But this order concerns Amazon and the record about Comet; it does not decide those other services’ legal rights or the legality of every agent design.
Why the dispute matters for agentic commerce
When an AI tool shops on a customer’s behalf, control is divided among the shopper, the retailer, the browser or agent, the seller, and the payment system. The customer wants convenience and choice; the retailer wants control over security, presentation, service, and the transaction; the agent provider wants to mediate discovery and purchasing. The lawsuit tests where the law draws the line when a customer authorizes an agent but the retailer objects to its access.
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