A major showdown has erupted between Amazon and the AI-startup Perplexity AI over the future of autonomous shopping assistants. Amazon has reportedly issued a legal threat demanding Perplexity disable the shopping-bot feature in its Comet browser when interfacing with Amazon’s platform. Reuters+1
What’s going on
Perplexity’s Comet browser includes an “agentic” AI-assistant that can browse, search and place orders on behalf of users — including on Amazon’s site. Amazon claims this disrupts its shopping experience and violates its terms of service. TechCrunch+1 The e-commerce giant says it has “repeatedly requested” that Perplexity remove Amazon from Comet’s autonomous shopping system. The Verge
In response, Perplexity says it’s defending users’ rights to choose their own bots and argues Amazon is using its market dominance to block innovation. The startup describes Amazon’s action as “bullying” and attempts to curtail user choice. Reuters
Why this matters
- User autonomy vs. platform control: Perplexity believes users should be able to delegate shopping to AI agents. Amazon views that control as a threat to its business model and user-experience guardrails.
- Impact on the business model: If AI assistants bypass Amazon’s usual navigation or upsells, Amazon risks losing its advertising and product-recommendation revenue streams. Some commentators speculate that’s a key driver behind the dispute. Hacker News
- Broader implications for AI in e-commerce: This conflict touches on how AI assistants will interact with major platforms — whether they’ll be welcomed, regulated, or blocked. The outcome could set precedent for similar tools across industries.
What to watch
- Legal fallout: Will Amazon pursue formal legal action—or will the dispute be resolved via cease-and-desist letters and backend blocking?
- Technology response: Perplexity may either remove Amazon access or adapt its assistant to comply with Amazon’s rules (e.g., agent disclosure).
- User experience and market reaction: If AI-shopping agents become more common, how will platforms respond? Will they adopt, cooperate or fight back?
- Regulatory viewpoint: Regulators may eventually weigh in on whether platforms can block third-party AI assistants or whether this constitutes anti-competitive behaviour.
Final word
The clash between Amazon and Perplexity isn’t just a headline about bots and shopping — it’s a sign of how the next generation of digital assistants, commerce and platform economics will collide. For your Discover blog audience, this is a must-watch story: it sits at the intersection of AI innovation, user choice, business strategy and the shifting power of major tech platforms.