Recently, Amazon successfully obtained a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit against AI search company Perplexity, prohibiting the latter from using its AI shopping tool Comet on Amazon's website. The ruling was issued by Judge Maxine Chesney of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on March 9, 2026.

In its complaint, Amazon alleges that despite requiring all automated AI agents accessing its platform to transparently disclose their identity, Perplexity intentionally configured Comet to conceal its AI agent status. Instead, it disguised itself as a human user operating a Google Chrome browser to secretly access Amazon stores. Amazon further cited reports indicating Comet contained security vulnerabilities that could enable hackers to hijack the tool and steal user privacy data.

In its opposition motion, Perplexity argued that Amazon's lawsuit was fundamentally aimed at eliminating competition from its Quick Suite agent-based AI tools rather than genuine cybersecurity concerns. Perplexity stated that AI agents cannot view the advertisements saturating Amazon's website nor be induced to purchase additional items, asserting this was the true motivation behind Amazon's lawsuit and injunction request.

In his ruling, Judge Chesney sided with Amazon, finding merit in its claims that Perplexity's Comet application violated the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and California's Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act. The judge also concluded Amazon has a strong likelihood of prevailing in the merits trial.

Judge Chesney noted that Amazon presented compelling evidence showing Perplexity, through its Comet browser, accessed users' password-protected accounts without Amazon's authorization—though with user consent—to obtain private Amazon account information. This data was then transmitted to Perplexity's servers to execute tasks requested by the user.

In weighing the hardships faced by both parties, the judge determined that while an injunction might cause Perplexity to lose its first-mover advantage in the AI shopping tool sector, Comet could still operate on other websites. Therefore, the harm to Perplexity from an injunction would be less than the impact on Amazon if no injunction were granted.

IP Finance will continue to monitor subsequent developments.

Attached is the original ruling: