Source: Courthouse News Service

A Ninth Circuit three-judge panel vacated a district court’s preliminary injunction that had restricted Perplexity AI’s Comet shopping assistant, concluding the lower court abused its discretion and that Amazon is unlikely to prevail on the “access” element of its Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act (CDAFA) claims. U.S. Circuit Judge Milan Smith Jr. wrote that, on the record before the court, it is the user who accesses Amazon’s computers with the Assistant’s help, and Perplexity’s receipt of screenshots or communication of instructions does not mean Perplexity itself “accessed” Amazon’s servers. The panel expressly limited its holding to the CFAA/CDAFA “access” question as applied to the Assistant’s interactions with Amazon.com and stated it does not establish a new legal regime governing agentic AI.

The judges also reversed the district court’s view that Amazon would suffer irreparable harm and found the balance of equities and public interest favored Perplexity, vacating the injunction and remanding for further proceedings consistent with the opinion. Amazon sued Perplexity in November, alleging automated AI agents like Comet accessed its online store and password‑protected accounts without authorization and transmitted private account information to Perplexity’s servers; those allegations are reported in the record. Perplexity’s chief communications officer said the company will continue to defend user choice in AI, Amazon said it disagrees with the ruling and is evaluating next steps, and the panel noted Perplexity’s Comet valuation was reported at $21 billion earlier this year.