A federal appeals court has overturned an order blocking Perplexity's AI shopping tools on Amazon, handing the startup an early victory in a closely watched case over how autonomous AI agents can interact with online platforms.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that Amazon is unlikely to succeed on its claim that Perplexity violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a federal anti-hacking law.
"To succeed on a claim under the CFAA, a plaintiff must show that the defendant intentionally accessed a computer, without authorization or exceeding authorized access, thereby obtained information from any protected computer, and that there was loss to one or more persons during any one-year period aggregating at least $5,000 in value," the ruling said.
The court said Amazon's users, not Perplexity, accessed the platform through its agentic AI browser Comet, which can browse websites, log into accounts, and make purchases on a user's behalf.
The dispute began in November, when Amazon sent Perplexity a cease-and-desist letter before filing suit.
Amazon said Perplexity's Comet browser disguised automated traffic as a standard web browser, violated its terms of service, and accessed customer accounts without authorization. Perplexity argued Comet acted only with users' permission using credentials stored on their own devices and accused Amazon of trying to block consumer choice in AI assistants.
In March, a federal judge granted Amazon a preliminary injunction, finding the company had presented strong evidence that Perplexity likely violated federal and California computer fraud laws by accessing password-protected Amazon accounts without Amazon's permission. The order temporarily blocked Comet from shopping on Amazon while the lawsuit proceeded.
Although the underlying lawsuit is ongoing, the ruling offers an indication of how courts may approach AI agents that act on behalf of users.