Amazon Fires Warning Shots Across the Bow of AI Agents

Amazon, the giant e-commerce company, has issued a stark warning to Perplexity, the AI-powered answer engine. The company has requested that Perplexity stop allowing users to create and use purchasing agents through its Comet browser to buy products on Amazon’s website. Pause for a moment and consider that: an e-commerce vendor is essentially saying it doesn’t want people buying things from its own site—at least, not in the way those people want to.

Instead, Amazon insists that customers shop in the way it prefers. And at the heart of this dispute lies a struggle over control and power.

### The Legal Showdown Begins

Amazon’s cease-and-desist letter, now public, makes clear the company’s firm stance. Amazon lawyer Moez M. Kaba writes:
“Perplexity must immediately cease using, enabling, or deploying Comet’s artificial intelligence (‘AI’) agents or any other means to covertly intrude into Amazon’s e-commerce websites.”
Amazon considers such “intrusions” violations of federal and state computer fraud and abuse laws.

Welcome to the battle for the future—not just of commerce, but much more.

### What’s Happening?

1. You create an AI agent with Perplexity.
2. You ask it to buy something on Amazon for you.
3. It completes the purchase without identifying itself as an AI agent to Amazon.

From Perplexity’s perspective, this is simply the next step in technology and automation. Amazon, however, sees it differently—and the issue boils down to control over how customers find and buy products.

### Perplexity’s Perspective: Innovation and Convenience

In a blog post titled “Bullying is Not Innovation,” Perplexity argues that Amazon *should* embrace agentic AI. “Easier shopping means more transactions and happier customers,” the post states. However, Perplexity claims Amazon is more interested in serving ads, promoting sponsored results, and influencing customer purchases through upsells and confusing offers.

Perplexity views agentic AI as a transition from tools like wrenches or hammers to genuine assistants or even employees who act on behalf of users.

### Amazon’s Position: Transparency is the Snag

Amazon acknowledges its excitement about AI innovations. The cease-and-desist letter states:
“Amazon shares the industry’s excitement about AI innovations and sees significant potential for agentic AI to improve customer experiences in a range of areas.”

But there’s a critical caveat: transparency.

Perplexity’s AI agents log in using the user’s credentials on personal devices, effectively masquerading as the user rather than identifying themselves as agents. Amazon likens this to a child running an errand for a parent—it insists the child must identify as the parent’s agent.

### Perplexity’s Rebuttal

Perplexity counters by highlighting the nature of user agents:
“User agents are exactly that: agents of the user. They’re distinct from crawlers, scrapers, or bots. A user agent is your AI assistant—it has exactly the same permissions you have, works only at your specific request, and acts solely on your behalf.”

In essence, Perplexity argues its agents *are* the user and do not need to identify separately as agents.

### The Stakes for Both Sides

Perplexity fears that if its agents openly identify themselves as such, Amazon might block them, dynamically change product prices, or impose service fees.

Amazon’s main concern is that agentic commerce removes the curated shopping experience that includes context, impulse buying, and personalized recommendations. The cease-and-desist letter emphasizes:
“Amazon has invested billions over many years to develop a carefully curated shopping experience designed to help customers find and discover products through reviews, price, availability, delivery speed, post-purchase satisfaction measures, and personalized browsing and shopping history. This delights customers and builds trust, which is critical to Amazon’s success.”

### The Broader Context: Power, Control, and Commercial Transparency

Author and activist Cory Doctorow offers a provocative view in his book *Enshittification*, where he suggests Amazon exploits both users and merchants—arguing that “top results in product searches aren’t best matches, but those paying the highest fees.”

Regardless of viewpoint, it appears this conflict is headed for the courts. According to Lumida Wealth Management, an investment advisory firm,
“This is the first major legal test of autonomous AI agents in commerce.”

But this issue transcends shopping bots. As AI agents increasingly act on our behalf, society will need to address questions about ownership of their work, whether that work counts as our own in professional settings, and what rights and responsibilities such agents should have.

Hashbyt, a U.K. software company, summarizes the challenge succinctly:
“This isn’t just about shopping bots. It’s about the foundation of an AI-driven web.”

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The clash between Amazon and Perplexity may well set critical precedents for the future of AI, commerce, and digital autonomy. As technology evolves, so too will the battles over control, transparency, and innovation. Stay tuned.
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