E-commerce firm Amazon (AMZN) has told Perplexity AI to stop using its AI tool, Comet, to shop on behalf of users, Bloomberg reported. The reason is because Perplexity didn’t clearly indicate when the bot was acting as a shopper, which violates Amazon’s rules. This could also compromise privacy and the overall shopping experience, according to Amazon. Although Perplexity agreed to stop in late 2024, Amazon claims that the company resumed AI purchases in August 2025 and even tried to hide its bot by making it look like a regular browser user. When Amazon blocked the bot, Perplexity updated Comet to get around the block.
Elevate Your Investing Strategy:
- Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence.
Perplexity responded by accusing Amazon of using scare tactics to push out smaller rivals. The startup argued that users should be free to choose whichever AI agent they want to help with their shopping. Perplexity’s CEO, Aravind Srinivas, said that Comet only does what users ask it to do and that it doesn’t scrape or train on Amazon’s data. The company also believes Amazon’s real concern is that bots could reduce the value of Amazon’s ads, which earn money by placing products in front of users during searches.
It’s also worth noting that Amazon is working on its own AI tools, such as “Buy For Me” and “Rufus.” However, CEO Andy Jassy admitted that these tools still struggle with personalization and accurate pricing. Still, he said Amazon is open to working with third-party agents. Interestingly, Perplexity uses Amazon’s cloud service and is even backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. This makes the disagreement even more complicated, since Perplexity is both a partner and a potential threat.
Is Amazon a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on AMZN stock based on 41 Buys assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average AMZN price target of $295.62 per share implies 18.6% upside potential.
