Amazon demands Perplexity stop AI shopping in Comet browser dispute

Amazon issued a legal demand to Perplexity on November 4, 2025, requiring the artificial intelligence startup to prevent Comet browser users from making purchases through Amazon's platform. The e-commerce giant characterized Perplexity's AI agent as operating without transparency and degrading the customer experience, while Perplexity accused Amazon of using legal intimidation to block innovation.

The confrontation marks Amazon's first legal action against an AI company over autonomous shopping agents. According to Perplexity's November 4 blog post, Amazon sent what the startup described as "an aggressive legal threat" demanding that Comet users be blocked from Amazon shopping functionality. The dispute centers on whether third-party AI assistants should access e-commerce platforms to execute purchases on behalf of users.

Comet Assistant enables users to request product searches and complete purchases on Amazon when logged into their accounts. Credentials remain stored locally on user devices rather than on Perplexity's servers, according to the company's technical specifications. Users can ask the AI to find specific items, compare options, and execute transactions without navigating Amazon's interface directly.

Amazon published its own statement on November 4 arguing that third-party shopping agents must "operate openly and respect service provider decisions" on whether to participate in such systems. The company characterized Perplexity as evading detection to gain unauthorized access to its marketplace. According to Amazon's statement, Perplexity's agents provide experiences that "degrade the Amazon shopping experience by showing products that don't broaden discovery, lack personalized recommendations and may not be the fastest delivery speed available to shoppers."

The company pointed to food delivery applications, delivery services, and online travel agencies as examples of third-party systems that operate with explicit consent from service providers. Amazon stated it "repeatedly requested that Perplexity remove Amazon from the Comet experience, particularly in light of the significantly degraded shopping and customer service experience it provides."

Perplexity responded that Amazon's position contradicts basic principles of user choice and technological progress. The startup argued that easier shopping experiences should benefit retailers through increased transaction volume and customer satisfaction. According to Perplexity's blog post, Amazon prioritizes serving advertisements, sponsored results, and influencing purchasing decisions through upsells rather than enabling efficient transactions.

The timing coincides with Amazon's development of competing AI shopping tools. The e-commerce platform launched Rufus, an AI shopping chatbot, and began testing a "Buy For Me" feature that purchases products from third-party websites without leaving Amazon's application. CEO Andy Jassy told investors during the company's earnings call on October 30, 2025, that Amazon is "having conversations" with potential third-party AI agent partners but emphasized the need for solutions that maintain good customer experiences.

Amazon blocked AI bots from major technology companies in August 2025, updating its robots.txt file to restrict crawlers from Anthropic's Claude, OpenAI, Google's Project Mariner, and Meta. These restrictions expanded previous blocking measures implemented at least a month earlier against Perplexity and similar services, according to industry analysis at the time. The restrictions operate through advisory instructions rather than enforceable barriers, though platforms typically respect such designations.

The dispute extends beyond technical implementation details to fundamental questions about user agency in AI-mediated commerce. Perplexity emphasized in its blog post that user agents must function as indistinguishable from the users themselves, working solely on behalf of individuals rather than platform interests. The startup argued that users possess the right to select AI technologies that represent them without discrimination from publishers or corporations.

Amazon maintains $56 billion in annual advertising revenue built around shoppers browsing its marketplace, according to financial disclosures. The business model depends on sponsored product listings, display advertisements, and video content across its ecosystem. Third-party AI tools that bypass Amazon's storefront could potentially undermine both website traffic and advertising revenue streams.

Perplexity launched Comet browser on July 9, 2025, initially restricting access to subscribers of the company's $200-per-month Max plan. The company made the browser freely available on October 2, 2025, after millions joined waitlists during the three-month limited release period. Data from that period showed users increased their question volume between 6X and 18X in their first day after downloading Comet.

Each browser tab contains a Comet Assistant capable of answering questions about visible webpage content, providing document summaries, and handling routine tasks. Early demonstrations showed the AI agent autonomously managing customer support interactions, including a documented FedEx customer service chat where Comet Assistant tracked packages and communicated with live agents without human intervention.

The legal confrontation arrives as major retailers adopt divergent strategies toward AI shopping agents. Research published in September 2025 found that most merchants welcome AI-mediated shopping experiences while maintaining control over customer interactions. Amazon represents the most significant exception to merchant openness, explicitly blocking AI bots through robots.txt configurations while developing proprietary alternatives.

Industry analysts view Amazon's blocking strategy through competitive lenses. Eric Seufert from Mobile Dev Memo argued in August 2025 that blocking AI agents serves Amazon's business interests because agentic commerce "violates the motivations of retail outlets to control the customer relationship and monetize their first-party data with advertising." This analysis suggests platforms lack commercial motivation to allow unrestricted third-party agent access.

Skepticism has grown about AI shopping agent viability despite technology launches including ChatGPT's instant checkout feature. Analysis published in October 2025 identified eight structural challenges facing autonomous shopping systems, including retailer incentives against AI intermediation, consumer preferences for seeing options before deciding, and AI agents lacking contextual purchase knowledge.

Shopify adopted different approaches to AI agents compared with Amazon's restrictions. According to reporting from July 2025, Shopify introduced warning language to merchants' robots.txt files rather than implementing comprehensive blocking. The platform's "Robot & agent policy" requires "buy-for-me" agents to include human review steps and directs developers to integrate Shopify's checkout technology into their tools.

The infrastructure for AI agent authentication in e-commerce continues developing. Cloudflare partnered with Visa and Mastercard in October 2025 to develop security protocols for automated commerce. The Trusted Agent Protocol and Agent Pay aim to help merchants distinguish legitimate AI shopping agents from malicious bots through cryptographic verification. Amazon and Shopify collectively control more than 50 percent of the United States e-commerce market and currently block AI agents to maintain discovery ownership and protect retail media businesses.

Security researchers have identified vulnerabilities in agentic browsers. LayerX Security discovered in August 2025 that Comet faced prompt injection vulnerabilities that could exfiltrate emails, calendar data, and connected service information through crafted URL parameters. Brave researchers found additional vulnerabilities in October 2025 involving unseeable prompt injections embedded as nearly-invisible text within images. Perplexity allegedly responded that it saw "no security impact" to the initial disclosures.

The Amazon-Perplexity dispute highlights tensions between innovation advocates and platform control as AI agents become more capable of autonomous action. Marketing professionals must consider implications for customer journey optimization, advertising attribution, and platform relationships as commerce shifts toward AI-mediated transactions. Traditional advertising models built around platform-controlled discovery experiences face pressure from autonomous agents that prioritize user intentions over platform monetization strategies.

Perplexity emphasized that it will not be intimidated by corporate legal threats, arguing that users demand agentic shopping experiences. The startup noted that Amazon's current size resulted from delivering good products at low prices with fast delivery—principles that Perplexity claims align with natural evolution toward AI-powered commerce. According to the blog post, "Amazon shouldn't forget what it's like to be our size and passionate about a world-changing product."

Timeline

• February 2024: Amazon unveils Rufus AI shopping assistant in initial announcement
• July 9, 2025: Perplexity launches Comet browser for Max subscribers at $200 monthly
• July 14, 2025: Comet Assistant demonstrates customer support automation through FedEx interaction
• August 21, 2025: Amazon blocks AI bots from major tech companies including Perplexity, OpenAI, and Anthropic
• August 27-28, 2025: LayerX Security discovers Comet vulnerabilities allowing data exfiltration
• September 17, 2025: Amazon introduces agentic AI across seller platform for autonomous business management
• September 27, 2025: Research shows major merchants welcome AI agents while Amazon maintains restrictions
• October 2, 2025: Perplexity releases Comet browser globally at no cost after limited rollout
• October 6, 2025: Analysis questions AI shopping agent viability despite technology launches
• October 24, 2025: Cloudflare partners with Visa and Mastercard for AI agent authentication protocols
• October 30, 2025: Amazon CEO tells investors company is having conversations about partnering with third-party agents
• November 4, 2025: Amazon issues legal demand to Perplexity; both companies publish statements

Summary

Who: Amazon issued a legal demand to Perplexity, an AI search startup valued at $9 billion. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy commented on third-party agent partnerships during the October 30 earnings call. Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas has advocated for user agent rights throughout 2025.

What: Amazon demanded Perplexity prevent Comet browser users from shopping on Amazon's platform, characterizing the AI agent as operating without transparency and degrading customer experiences. Perplexity accused Amazon of bullying through legal threats to block innovation. The dispute concerns whether third-party AI assistants should access e-commerce platforms to execute purchases autonomously on behalf of users.

When: Amazon sent the legal letter and Perplexity published its response on November 4, 2025. The confrontation follows months of tension since Amazon blocked Perplexity's crawlers in August 2025 and Perplexity launched Comet browser in July 2025.

Where: The dispute affects Amazon's United States marketplace, where Perplexity's Comet browser enables AI-mediated shopping. Amazon maintains $56 billion in annual advertising revenue from its marketplace. Both companies operate globally but the immediate conflict centers on the U.S. market where Amazon and Shopify control more than 50 percent of e-commerce.

Why: The confrontation reflects fundamental tensions between platform control and user autonomy in AI-mediated commerce. Amazon protects advertising revenue built around shoppers browsing its marketplace while developing competing AI tools including Rufus and "Buy For Me" features. Perplexity argues users possess rights to select AI technologies representing them without platform discrimination. Marketing professionals face implications for customer journey optimization and advertising attribution as commerce shifts toward autonomous agents prioritizing user intentions over platform monetization strategies.