Perplexity accuses Amazon of bullying over shopping by AI assistant

Perplexity has hit back against Amazon’s legal threat, calling it “bullying” and “intimidation” from a big tech company. The Jeff Bezos-owned company has thrown a legal challenge at Perplexity, demanding that the startup block the AI agent on its Comet browser from shopping on the e-commerce giant’s platform on a user’s behalf.

“The point of technology is to make life better for people. We call it innovation, but it’s just the constant process of asking how to make things better. Bullying, on the other hand, is when large corporations use legal threats and intimidation to block innovation and make life worse for people,” Perplexity wrote in a blog.

What has Amazon said?

The e-commerce giant has claimed that it repeatedly asked Perplexity to remove Amazon from the Comet experience, “particularly in light of the significantly degraded shopping and customer service experience it provides”.

In a statement, Amazon said that third-party apps making purchases for users should operate openly and respect businesses’ decisions on whether to participate.

The rift between Perplexity and Amazon shows how AI has entered the e-commerce scene. While the startup is aiming at reinventing the web browser around artificial intelligence, Amazon itself is developing tools like “Buy For Me”, a feature allowing users to shop across brands within its app, and “Rufus”, an AI assistant that can recommend products and manage carts.

The AI agent on Perplexity’s Comet browser acts as an assistant that can make purchases and comparisons on behalf of users. The company said user credentials remain stored locally and never on its servers.

What has perplexity said?

In a strong-worded blog post, Perplexity said, “The law is clear that large corporations have no right to stop you from owning wrenches. Today, Amazon announced it does not believe in your right to hire labor, to have an assistant or an employee acting on your behalf.  This isn’t a reasonable legal position, it’s a bully tactic to scare disruptive companies like Perplexity out of making life better for people.'

Explaining how Comet comes into play in Amazon’s e-commerce website, Perplexity said, “You ask your Comet Assistant to find and purchase something on Amazon. If you’re logged in to Amazon, the Comet Assistant quickly finds and purchases the item for you, saving you time for more important tasks.”

“Amazon should love this. Easier shopping means more transactions and happier customers. But Amazon doesn’t care. They’re more interested in serving you ads, sponsored results, and influencing your purchasing decisions with upsells and confusing offers,” it added.

With inputs from agencies