A federal judge has granted Amazon a preliminary injunction barring Perplexity AI from using its Comet browser agents to access password-protected Amazon accounts and systems.
U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney issued the order in San Francisco federal court, finding that Amazon is likely to succeed on the merits of its claims. The preliminary injunction also bars Perplexity from creating or using accounts for the purpose of AI agent access and orders the company to destroy Amazon data it collected through Comet.
Amazon sued Perplexity in November, alleging the startup committed computer fraud by disguising Comet as a standard Chrome browser and refusing to identify it as an AI agent while making purchases.
What The Court Ordered
The preliminary injunction bars Perplexity from using Comet or any other AI agent to access password-protected parts of Amazon’s systems.
In the order, Judge Chesney wrote that Amazon presented “strong evidence” that Perplexity, through its Comet browser, accessed Amazon user accounts “with the Amazon user’s permission but without authorization by Amazon.”
The court treated user consent and platform authorization as two separate requirements at this stage of the case. A shopper giving Comet their Amazon login credentials didn’t automatically give Comet the right to use them on Amazon’s platform.
Chesney found Amazon satisfied all four legal requirements for a preliminary injunction, including that Amazon would suffer irreparable harm without one. The judge wrote that “Perplexity has made clear that, in the absence of the relief requested, it will continue to engage in the above-referenced challenged conduct.”
The court denied Perplexity’s request for a stay pending appeal but granted a 7-day administrative stay from March 9 so the company can seek a stay from the Ninth Circuit. The court also denied a bond requirement.
Amazon’s Response
Amazon spokesperson Lara Hendrickson told Bloomberg the preliminary injunction “will prevent Perplexity’s unauthorized access to the Amazon store and is an important step in maintaining a trusted shopping experience for Amazon customers.”
Amazon has maintained throughout the case that third-party agents must identify themselves and operate with the platform’s consent. In a statement alongside the lawsuit, the company objected to Comet offering a “significantly degraded shopping and customer service experience.” CEO Andy Jassy said on an earnings call that Amazon expected to partner with third-party agents over time, but on its own terms.
Background
Amazon sent Perplexity a cease-and-desist letter in October, demanding the company stop disguising Comet as a Chrome browser and transparently identify its AI agents when operating on Amazon.
Perplexity responded with a blog post titled “Bullying is not innovation,” arguing that Comet acts on behalf of users who have granted it access to their own accounts. The company’s position was that a user…
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