Amazon asks full 9th Circuit to reconsider Perplexity shopping agent ruling

August 24, 2026 · mediapost.com

A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit ruled last month that Perplexity's Comet assistant does not "access" Amazon's servers when it shops on a user's behalf, reversing an injunction U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney issued in March. Chesney had found Amazon likely to succeed in proving that Comet violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by entering user accounts without Amazon's authorization, a law written soon after the 1983 film "WarGames." Amazon's cease-and-desist notice and technical blocks against Comet date to November. The retailer's petition, filed Tuesday, asks all 11 judges of the circuit to rehear the case, arguing the panel's decision "degraded website owners' ability to set the terms" under which AI agents can operate on their systems.

Retailers lose the ability to block AI shopping agents from their sites while this fight continues, since the panel's ruling keeps Comet active on Amazon.com. Agencies planning campaigns around retail media and site-side attribution now face a browsing layer that can complete purchases without a user loading a product page, complicating last-click and view-through measurement built around direct site visits. A rehearing before the full 9th Circuit could take months to resolve, and its outcome will shape whether retailers can legally restrict agentic browsers such as Comet, and similar tools from other AI companies, from acting on their platforms.