Amazon and Perplexity have kicked off the great AI web browser fight

Amazon doesn’t want to be a part of Perplexity’s AI-powered shopping experience. In a post on Tuesday, the ecommerce giant says it has “repeatedly requested” that Perplexity stop allowing its Comet AI browser to buy products for customers, which Perplexity has responded to by accusing Amazon of “bullying.”

Perplexity’s AI browser, Comet, currently offers an agentic AI feature that can find and purchase products from various websites — including Amazon — on your behalf. But now, Perplexity says it has received an “aggressive legal threat” from Amazon that demands that it stop allowing its AI assistant to shop for users — something the AI startup claims is at odds with Amazon’s values.

“Amazon should love this. Easier shopping means more transactions and happier customers,” Perplexity writes. “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.” In the post, Perplexity also cites a quote from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who said during an earnings call last week that the company expects to “partner with third-party agents” over time.

“This is like if you went to a store and the store only allowed you to hire a personal shopper who worked for the store,” Perplexity spokesperson Jesse Dwyer said in a statement to The Verge. “That’s not a personal shopper — that’s a sales associate.”

Meanwhile, Amazon’s statement says third-party applications that purchase products for customers on its site “should respect service provider decisions whether or not to participate,” claiming that Comet provides a “significantly degraded shopping and customer service experience.”