Amazon sends a formal notice to Perplexity for its AI ‘buyer’ Comet
The tension is rising between Amazon and the artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI. The dispute centers around the new functionality of the AI agent “Comet,” which is integrated into Perplexity’s browser and can automatically purchase products online — including from Amazon — on behalf of users.
Amazon Says No, Perplexity Claims ‘Legal Harassment’
In a statement released on Tuesday, Amazon claims it has “repeatedly asked Perplexity to stop” enabling its AI to make purchases on its platform without permission. The company now cites an official notice, accusing Comet of “violating its terms of service” and degrading the customer experience.
Perplexity, on its part, rebuffs what it calls a “hostile legal threat” and accuses Amazon of “commercial blackmail.”
“Amazon should love this: a simpler way to shop, more transactions, more satisfied customers. But Amazon is only interested in its ads, its sponsored results, and forced sales,” Perplexity states in its blog post.
What is Comet, Perplexity’s AI ‘Buyer’?
Comet is an agentic AI integrated into the Perplexity browser, capable of autonomously executing complex tasks:
- searching for products based on specific criteria (price, reviews, availability),
- comparing offers across multiple sites,
- and even completing purchases automatically on behalf of the user.
The goal is to create an intelligent and impartial shopping assistant, unlike Amazon’s commercial recommendations. “It’s like a store forcing you to hire a personal shopper who works for the store,” explains Jesse Dwyer, spokesperson for Perplexity. “This is not a personal assistant; it’s a salesperson.”
Amazon’s Stance: “You do not control our customer experience”
Amazon justifies its decision by citing the need to protect service quality and its users: “Third-party applications that purchase products for customers on Amazon must comply with the service provider’s decision on whether to participate or not. Comet offers a degraded shopping experience and customer service.”
Underlying this statement is Amazon’s desire to maintain its control over customer relations and prevent an external agent from diverting users from its own ecosystem — particularly its advertising.
Context: Amazon Wants Its Own ‘AI Agents’
Ironically, during a recent investor call, CEO Andy Jassy stated that Amazon expects to “collaborate with third-party agents in the future.” However, the reality seems quite different: Amazon clearly wants to select these partners and control how purchases are made on its platform.
Perplexity views this as a contradiction: “Amazon claims to want to cooperate with AI agents, but only if they work for them.”
Underlying Issue: Control Over the Purchasing Journey
This confrontation highlights a growing issue in online commerce: who controls the purchasing decision when AIs become intermediaries? For Amazon, relinquishing this control to an external AI would mean losing its ability to influence sales through advertising, promotions, and internal recommendations. For Perplexity, it represents an opportunity to redefine online shopping as more neutral, transparent, and less manipulated by the commercial interests of platforms.
If Amazon maintains its position, Perplexity may be forced to block Amazon in Comet — or engage in a legal battle over the rights of AIs to interact freely with commercial platforms.
This conflict could very well become the first major “automated purchasing trial” of the artificial intelligence era.
