Overview
- Amazon sent a cease-and-desist dated Oct. 31 alleging Perplexity’s Comet disguised automated activity as human browsing, violated its terms, and potentially ran afoul of U.S. computer-fraud laws.
- Amazon says Comet degraded the shopping and customer service experience and introduced privacy risks, but added third-party agents are welcome if they operate transparently and identify themselves.
- Perplexity rejected the claims as bullying, said Comet acts solely for users with credentials stored locally, and asserted it does not scrape or train on Amazon data.
- Amazon says it warned Perplexity in November 2024 to stop agent purchases and alleges the startup resumed by August 2025, masked Comet as Google Chrome, and updated it to bypass blocks.
- Some outlets report Amazon has moved to file a federal lawsuit, underscoring how this dispute could shape norms for agent autonomy, disclosure, and platform control over AI-driven transactions.