US Appeals Court Overturns Injunction Against Perplexity AI's Access to Amazon
The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a preliminary injunction that blocked Perplexity AI's Comet browser agent from accessing Amazon's platform. The court ruled that the access is driven by individual users utilizing the AI tool, rather than Perplexity AI itself. This ruling sets a significant legal precedent for AI agents and web scraping, suggesting that platforms cannot easily block AI tools under anti-hacking laws if the access is user-initiated. It could reshape how e-commerce sites and other platforms legally restrict AI-driven automation and data extraction. The court noted that Amazon is unlikely to succeed in claiming Perplexity violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) because the browsing actions are user-directed. While Amazon expressed disagreement and is evaluating its next steps, Perplexity vowed to defend users' rights to use AI tools.
## BACKGROUND
Perplexity AI developed Comet, a Chromium-based AI browser designed to act as a personal assistant that automates tasks and researches the web. The legal dispute centers on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a US cybersecurity law often invoked by platforms to block unauthorized web scraping and automated access.