Appeals Court Lets Perplexity’s Comet Shop on Amazon

The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday overturned a lower-court order that had temporarily blocked Perplexity’s Comet browser from shopping on Amazon. The court found Amazon was unlikely to succeed on its claim under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Amazon sued Perplexity after sending a cease-and-desist letter in November. The company alleged that Comet disguised automated traffic as an ordinary web browser, violated Amazon’s terms of service and accessed customer accounts without authorization.

Perplexity designed Comet to browse websites, sign into accounts and make purchases on a user’s behalf. The startup maintained the tool operates only with user permission and uses credentials stored on the user’s device, and it argued Amazon was seeking to limit consumer choice among AI assistants.

In March a federal judge granted Amazon a preliminary injunction, finding evidence that Perplexity likely accessed password-protected Amazon accounts without permission and violated federal and California computer fraud laws. The Ninth Circuit’s decision reverses that injunction for now and allows Comet to resume shopping functions while the lawsuit continues.

The appeals court reviewed the legal standard under the CFAA and wrote: “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 court concluded Amazon had not shown it was likely to meet that standard because the access occurred through users employing their own credentials.

The Ninth Circuit’s ruling addresses only the preliminary injunction and does not decide the underlying claims. The parties will continue to litigate the case in the district court.

Legal experts have noted the case raises questions about how courts will treat AI systems that act on users’ behalf online, especially when those systems log into accounts or complete transactions.

For now, Perplexity may resume Comet’s shopping activity on Amazon while the broader legal dispute proceeds.