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Amazon’s Fight With Perplexity Signals Tension Over AI Automation
Amazon apparently doesn’t like it when AI agents wander around in its store. The retail giant has warned Perplexity that its AI shopping assistant Comet violates its terms of service because it doesn’t identify itself as an agent. According to TechCrunch, Amazon has sent Perplexity several warnings, including a “sternly worded” cease and desist letter.
In a blog post, Perplexity replied that “Bullying is not innovation,” and warned that Amazon’s “first legal salvo” against an AI company is “a threat to all internet users.” The company said that since the agent automatically is at work for a person and has “the same permissions” as the human user, it’s not required to identify itself.
Amazon says its simply applying the same rules to Perplexity that it does to everyone else. Identifying agents “is how others operate, including food delivery apps and the restaurants they take orders for, delivery service apps and the stores they shop from, and online travel agencies and the airlines they book tickets with for customers,” the company said.
Amazon offers its own shopping agent, Rufus, which could also block Comet or any similar app from the site. Perplexity believes Amazon
