"Autonomous AI shopping agents are moving quickly from novelty to reality, with both financial and legal implications. AI-first browsers such as Perplexity's Comet and OpenAI's Atlas can now search, compare, and initiate purchases with minimal human involvement. That process, called agentic commerce, creates faster shopping for consumers and fewer clicks for merchants. It also challenges many ecommerce conventions, including the role marketplaces play in product discovery, transactions, and advertising."
"In November 2025, Amazon sued Perplexity, alleging that the Comet web browser masquerades as a human, accesses Amazon accounts, and places orders in violation of Amazon's terms of service and computer fraud laws. Third-party bots, according to Amazon, must operate openly and only with platform permission. Perplexity countered that Comet acts on behalf of a human, with credentials stored locally for security."
Autonomous AI shopping agents can search, compare, and initiate purchases with minimal human involvement, enabling faster shopping and fewer merchant clicks. This agentic commerce model changes product discovery, transaction flow, and advertising within ecommerce marketplaces. Amazon sued Perplexity alleging Comet accessed accounts and placed orders in violation of terms and computer fraud laws, arguing third-party bots must operate openly and with permission. Perplexity replied that Comet acts on behalf of humans with local credential storage and suggested the dispute centers on platform control and ad-driven revenue preservation. eBay updated its user agreement to prohibit unsanctioned buy-for-me agents while allowing formally sanctioned partnerships.
Read at Practical Ecommerce
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