Judge bans Perplexity's AI agents from shopping on Amazon

If you were hoping an AI agent would handle your Amazon shopping cart for you, think again. The retail giant just scored a major win in federal court.

US District Judge Maxine Chesney issued an order blocking Perplexity’s web browser AI agents from placing Amazon orders on behalf of users. The judge wrote that Amazon provided strong evidence that Perplexity’s Comet browser was accessing user accounts without authorization.

Caught in Chrome disguise

Amazon first sued the AI search startup back in November. In the complaint, the retailer claimed it had repeatedly requested Perplexity stop letting its agents buy products for shoppers, but the company ignored the warnings.

Amazon accused Perplexity of intruding into its marketplace and customer accounts, alleging violations of computer fraud and abuse laws.

There is also a spicy technical detail in the lawsuit. Amazon alleged that Perplexity attempted to conceal its autonomous activities by deliberately misrepresenting the Comet browser as Google Chrome.

Under the preliminary injunction, Perplexity must completely stop accessing Amazon using its AI agents. The startup is also ordered to destroy any data it has collected from Amazon.

The ruling takes effect in seven days, leaving Perplexity a narrow window to appeal.

Amazon spokesperson Lara Hendrickson said the ruling prevents unauthorized access to its store and that the company looks forward to making its case in court. Perplexity spokesperson Jesse Dwyer fired back, stating the startup will continue to fight for the right of internet users to choose whatever AI they want.

Why it matters

This ruling delivers a massive reality check to anyone dreaming of truly autonomous AI assistants handling everyday life.

For everyday shoppers, automated purchasing was Comet’s killer feature. Losing access to the largest online store in the Western world fundamentally guts the browser’s agentic shopping appeal. If you were planning to test Comet for your Amazon routine, it is basically a dead end for now.

For the broader AI ecosystem, this sets a tense legal precedent. Platforms like Amazon survive on proprietary traffic, browsing behavior, and high-margin ad placements. An external AI agent that bypasses all the ads and simply hits the checkout button threatens their core revenue model.

We think Perplexity tried to move too fast and break things it could not afford to break. Disguising Comet as Google Chrome may be a classic web scraping workaround, but in front of a federal judge, it looks like deliberate deception. Autonomous agents will eventually have to negotiate official APIs rather than sneaking through backdoors.