US Appeals Court Lifts Injunction Against Perplexity's AI Shopping Agent

A US appeals court has lifted an injunction against Perplexity's AI shopping agent, Comet, allowing it to continue operating on Amazon. The ruling comes after a California federal judge temporarily prevented Perplexity from using Comet's agentic shopping features due to allegations of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

The appeals court found that Amazon was unlikely to succeed in its claim, as the court concluded that the user accessed Amazon's systems through Comet, rather than Perplexity itself. This means that software carrying out a user's instructions may not automatically qualify as an outside intruder under computer-hacking laws.

Perplexity presented Comet as a tool chosen by customers who already had permission to use Amazon, whereas Amazon characterized it as an unauthorized automated visitor. The decision does not give every AI agent permission to access any website and has clear limits, but it does provide a potentially useful argument for software developers.