Court Blocks Perplexity's Comet Agent From Accessing Amazon Accounts
The Development
U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney granted Amazon a preliminary injunction on March 9, 2026, blocking Perplexity's Comet browser agent from accessing password-protected areas of Amazon, including Prime subscriber accounts. The order additionally requires Perplexity to destroy any Amazon data previously collected by Comet. Amazon filed the underlying lawsuit in November 2025, alleging computer fraud and unauthorized access, claiming Comet completed purchases on users' behalf without properly identifying itself as an automated bot. Chesney found Amazon presented 'strong evidence' that Comet accessed accounts 'with the Amazon user's permission but without authorization by Amazon.' The injunction is paused for one week to allow Perplexity to file an appeal. Amazon spokesperson Lara Hendrickson stated the ruling 'will prevent Perplexity's unauthorized access to the Amazon store and is an important step in maintaining a trusted shopping experience.'
Our Take
The legal distinction embedded in this ruling—user permission versus platform authorization—is the sentence that should alarm every team building or deploying AI agents for commerce. These are not the same thing, and courts are now saying so explicitly. Perplexity's Comet wasn't hacking accounts; users invited it in. Amazon's argument, which the court accepted, is that it retains independent authority over who and what can transact inside its platform regardless of user consent. That position, if it holds through appeal, creates a gatekeeping right that Amazon—and by extension any major platform—can use to selectively block AI intermediaries from operating in their ecosystem. For retail media and commerce teams evaluating AI agent deployments, the risk isn't technical, it's jurisdictional. Every major retailer now has a legal template to wall off agent access on their own terms.
The Exploit
Action Item
If your brand is piloting AI shopping agents that operate inside retailer accounts on users' behalf, audit your vendor's site access methodology before Perplexity's appeal window closes March 17—platforms now have a working legal precedent to terminate that access without warning.