Amazon's Legal Battle with Perplexity AI Over Shopping Assistant Technology Highlights Growing Tech Industry Tensions

Perplexity AI announced on Tuesday that Amazon.com has issued a legal threat, demanding the startup prevent its AI agent in the Comet browser from conducting shopping activities on Amazon's platform on behalf of users.

The rapidly growing AI assistant company firmly rejected Amazon's demands, asserting that the e-commerce giant is leveraging its market dominance to suppress competition in the emerging AI space.

In a strongly worded blog post, Perplexity characterized the situation as a significant threat to consumer choice and AI assistant innovation, stating: "Bullying is when large corporations use legal threats and intimidation to block innovation and make life worse for people."

Amazon did not provide an immediate response when Reuters requested comment on the matter.

This confrontation between Amazon and Perplexity highlights the emerging regulatory questions surrounding AI agents and their interactions with established websites and platforms.

Perplexity joins numerous AI startups working to transform the traditional web browser experience through artificial intelligence, with the goal of creating more autonomous systems capable of handling routine online tasks from email composition to completing purchase transactions.

Interestingly, Amazon itself is developing comparable technologies, including its "Buy For Me" feature that enables cross-brand shopping within its application, and "Rufus," an AI assistant designed to suggest products and manage shopping carts.

The AI agent within Perplexity's Comet browser functions as a digital assistant capable of making purchases and conducting product comparisons for users. Perplexity emphasized that user credentials remain locally stored rather than on company servers, adding: "Easier shopping means more transactions and happier customers. But Amazon doesn't care, they're more interested in serving you ads."

The startup maintained that users should have the freedom to select their preferred AI assistants, portraying Amazon's actions as an effort to protect its advertising-based revenue model rather than enhance consumer experience.