Perplexity Overturns Amazon Ban on AI Shopping Bot on Appeal

My take: The Ninth Circuit just established the first appellate precedent on AI agent rights on the web: Perplexity can let its Comet agent shop on Amazon, because the person who technically "accesses" the site is the user, not the software. Amazon failed to show that Perplexity violated the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) because the AI agent operates as an extension of the user, not as an independent actor.

The decision matters because it opens the legal door for AI agents to act on behalf of their users on sites that would otherwise block them. It is not a blank check: the court was explicit that the law governing AI agents is far from settled, and the case continues in district court on other Amazon claims. But it is a meaningful starting point.

For anyone working with or building AI tools, the underlying question shifts: it is no longer just what AI can do, but who is legally responsible when it acts on your behalf.

Is your business or practice prepared to operate with agents that take real actions in external systems?