"We would be happy to work together with Amazon to figure out a win-win outcome for both us and them. But attempts to block our Comet Assistant on Amazon and hurt our users, we will have to stand up for them and not get bullied by Amazon," Srinivas says in a statement.
Perplexity AI's CEO Aravind Srinivas has sharply rebuked Amazon's recent legal notice against his company, declaring in a statement that "we will not get bullied." The exchange escalates tensions between the e-commerce giant and the AI startup over the use of Perplexity's AI agent, Comet, on Amazon's platform.
"We would be happy to work together with Amazon to figure out a win-win outcome for both us and them. But attempts to block our Comet Assistant on Amazon and hurt our users, we will have to stand up for them and not get bullied by Amazon," Srinivas says in a statement.
Why did Amazon issue a cease-and-desist notice to Perplexity?
Amazon issued a cease-and-desist notice to Perplexity, demanding an immediate halt to Comet's operations that involve automated purchases on its marketplace. According to court filings referenced in the notice, Comet, an AI-powered shopping assistant developed by Perplexity, has been executing thousands of transactions without explicit user oversight, raising concerns about unauthorized access and data handling. The legal action, filed in a US federal court, seeks an injunction to block further activity and claims potential damages exceeding $10 million for breach of terms of service.
This marks the latest in a series of disputes involving AI agents interacting with e-commerce sites. Perplexity commercially launched Comet in September as a tool to automate routine online shopping tasks, such as restocking household items based on user preferences. Amazon alleges that these actions violate its robots.txt protocols and API usage policies, which prohibit automated scraping or buying without prior approval.
Why Amazon is suing Perplexity?
Amazon's grievance centers on Perplexity's alleged circumvention of platform safeguards. The company argues that Comet's ability to browse product listings, compare prices, and complete checkouts mimics human behavior but at an unprecedented scale, potentially overwhelming servers and distorting market dynamics. Internal Amazon documents, cited in a Bloomberg report, indicate that Comet accounted for a spike in anomalous traffic during peak shopping hours in October, leading to temporary service disruptions.
Furthermore, Amazon contends that Perplexity failed to disclose its AI's full capabilities during beta testing phases, where limited access was granted under strict non-commercial terms. Legal experts note that this case could set precedents for AI accountability in consumer-facing applications, especially as tools like Comet integrate deeper into daily routines. Amazon's move aligns with broader efforts by tech firms to protect intellectual property amid the AI boom, following similar actions against other startups accused of data overreach.
Perplexity says, "Bullying is not innovation"
In a blog post titled "Bullying Is Not Innovation," the company outlines its defense and accuses Amazon of stifling competition. The post details how Comet adheres to all public APIs and user-initiated commands, emphasising that every purchase requires explicit opt-in from account holders. Perplexity provides anonymised logs showing that 98 percent of Comet's actions stem from verified user prompts, countering claims of rogue automation.
Srinivas, in the blog and his accompanying X post, frames the dispute as an attempt by incumbents to maintain dominance. "Innovation thrives when we build on open systems, not when giants send lawyers to scare off newcomers," he wrote on X. The company pledges to contest the notice vigorously, hinting at plans to release an open-source version of Comet's framework to promote transparency. Perplexity also calls for industry-wide standards on AI agents, urging collaboration over litigation to address shared challenges like fraud detection and ethical deployment.
