Amazon has won a preliminary injunction that temporarily blocks Perplexity’s Comet artificial intelligence browser from accessing its shopping site.
A federal judge in the Northern District of California made the judgment, which Perplexity can appeal. The order follows a November lawsuit in which Amazon accused Perplexity of taking steps to hide its AI shopping agents so they could continue scraping the retailer’s website without approval.
U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney said Amazon had shown “strong evidence” that Comet accessed its site “without authorization” and submitted “essentially undisputed evidence” that it spent more than $5,000 responding to the activity, including “numerous hours” building tools to block future access.
Amazon in its original complaint claimed Perplexity’s agents posed security risks to customer data and disrupted its advertising systems, requiring new detection mechanisms to exclude automated traffic.
Amazon spokesperson Maxine Tagay, in quotes reported by CNBC, said the injunction is an important step to maintain ‘a trusted shopping experience’.
Perplexity has, meanwhile, called the lawsuit a “bully tactic” and it will reportedly continue the legal fight 'for the right of internet users to choose whatever AI they want.”
The recap
Court grants Amazon preliminary injunction blocking Perplexity's Comet browser access.
Amazon spent more than $5,000 and hours developing blocking tools.
Ruling includes a one-week stay allowing Perplexity to appeal.