{"id":264769,"date":"2025-11-05T17:40:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T17:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/264769\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T17:40:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T17:40:12","slug":"amazon-sues-ai-startup-over-browsers-automated-shopping-and-buying-feature-artificial-intelligence-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/264769\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon sues AI startup over browser\u2019s automated shopping and buying feature | Artificial intelligence (AI)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amazon sued a prominent artificial intelligence startup on Tuesday over a shopping feature in the company\u2019s browser, which can automate placing orders for users. Amazon<\/a> accused Perplexity AI of covertly accessing customer accounts and disguising AI activity as human browsing.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerplexity\u2019s misconduct must end,\u201d Amazon\u2019s lawyers wrote. \u201cPerplexity is not allowed to go where it has been expressly told it cannot; that Perplexity\u2019s trespass involves code rather than a lockpick makes it no less unlawful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perplexity, which has grown rapidly amid the boom in AI assistants, has previously rejected the US shopping company\u2019s claims, accusing Amazon of using its market dominance to stifle competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cBullying is when large corporations use legal threats and intimidation to block innovation and make life worse for people,\u201d the company wrote in a blogpost.<\/p>\n

The clash highlights an emerging debate over regulation of the growing use of AI agents, autonomous digital secretaries powered by AI, and their interaction with websites.<\/p>\n

In the suit, Amazon accused Perplexity of covertly accessing private Amazon customer accounts through its Comet browser and associated AI agent and of disguising automated activity as human browsing. Perplexity\u2019s system posed security risks to customer data, Amazon alleged, and the startup had ignored repeated requests to stop.<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than be transparent, Perplexity has purposely configured its CometAI software to not identify the Comet AI agent\u2019s activities in the Amazon Store,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

In the complaint, Amazon accused Perplexity\u2019s Comet AI agent of degrading customers\u2019 shopping experience and interfering with its ability to ensure customers who use the agent benefit from the tailored shopping experience Amazon curated over decades.<\/p>\n

Third-party apps making purchases for users should operate openly and respect businesses\u2019 decisions on whether to participate, Amazon said in an earlier statement.<\/p>\n

Perplexity earlier said it had received a legal threat from Amazon demanding that it block the Comet AI agent from shopping on the platform, calling the move a broader threat to user choice and the future of AI assistants.<\/p>\n

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Perplexity is among many AI startups seeking to reorient the web browser around artificial intelligence, aiming to make it more autonomous and capable of handling everyday online activities, from drafting emails to completing purchases.<\/p>\n

Amazon is also developing similar tools, such as \u201cBuy For Me\u201d, which lets users shop across brands within its app, and Rufus, an AI assistant to recommend items and manage carts.<\/p>\n

The AI agent on Perplexity\u2019s Comet browser acts as an assistant that can make purchases and comparisons for users. The startup said user credentials remain stored locally and never on its servers. The startup said users had the right to choose their own AI assistants, portraying Amazon\u2019s move as an attempt to protect its business model.<\/p>\n

\u201cEasier shopping means more transactions and happier customers,\u201d Perplexity added. \u201cBut Amazon doesn\u2019t care, they\u2019re more interested in serving you ads.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amazon sued a prominent artificial intelligence startup on Tuesday over a shopping feature in the company\u2019s browser, which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,105],"class_list":["post-264769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}