Amazon Wins Court Order to Block Perplexity AI Shopping Bots

E-commerce goliath Amazon scored a temporary victory in its attempt to secure a court order blocking artificial intelligence (AI) robot agents from accessing its website.

According to court documents, Amazon’s dispute with Perplexity, a San Francisco-based private AI firm, involved the alleged unauthorized use of Perplexity’s Comet web browsers’ AI function to access password-protected sections of Amazon.

The March 6 ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California found that Amazon provided “strong evidence” that Perplexity had accessed Amazon with the user’s permission but without authorization by Amazon through the user’s password-protected account.

“Amazon has submitted essentially undisputed evidence that it has expended significantly more than $5,000 in responding to such circumstances, including, for example, costs attributable to numerous hours spent by Amazon employees in developing tools to block Comet’s access to its private customer accounts and detecting future unauthorized access by Comet,” the documents state.

Perplexity’s website describes how consumers can use the free AI tool, much like Siri on the iPhone. When asked a question, Perplexity’s AI searches the Internet gathering insights from sources, then presents the information to the consumer. Those searching for products on Amazon can bypass the traditional Amazon browser, often filled with ads, to get directly to the products, with Perplexity acting as a filter.

Amazon also noted California Penal Code 502, which prohibits “knowingly and without permission, accessing or causing to be accessed, any computer, computer system, or computer network.”

The court found that Amazon is “likely to suffer irreparable harm” since Perplexity stated that it will continue to engage in its filtered searches.

The ruling stems from a Motion for Preliminary Injunctive Relief filed by Amazon.com Services LLC on Nov. 4, 2025.

In its decision, the court stated that Perplexity and its agents and employees are prohibited from attempting to “access, assist, instruct or provide means for others to access” Amazon’s protected computer systems using AI agents. The AI bot firm is also forbidden from using any accounts, creating new ones, or taking over existing accounts on Amazon’s websites to allow their AI agents to access Amazon’s protected computer systems.

The court further ordered Perplexity to destroy all copies of Amazon’s data, including any customer data that it had obtained through AI agents.

Perplexity will have 30 days to certify that it has fully complied with the court’s ruling.

Perplexity had requested a stay, pending appeal, stating that the “cease and desist” order would cause it to lose its “first-mover advantage in the AI-assisted shopping space” and its “market share, reputation, users,” as well as its “multimillion-dollar investment in developing Comet.” But the request was denied.

Perplexity also argued that the injunction would be detrimental to the public’s interest in consumer choice and innovation. Amazon responded by arguing that the public also has an interest in protecting computers from unauthorized access.

After the court ruling, Perplexity filed for appeal on March 10.