Amazon has publicly raised red flags over the practices of massively growing AI upstart Perplexity. They’re particularly concerned about Perplexity’s ability to buy, fueled by its AI-powered agents. This controversy concerns Perplexity’s third-party app, Comet. Amazon contends that Comet is opaque and undermines the trust at the heart of its shopping experience.
In a recent note, Amazon has asked Perplexity to disallow its brand from appearing within the Comet experience. In the brief, the tech giant repeated its call for third-party apps to operate freely and fairly while honoring the choices of platform owners. Amazon’s worries underscore a not-so-distant fear about the impact new, AI-driven tools can have on e-commerce.
Legal Challenges Faced by Perplexity
Despite the hype, Perplexity is already facing multiple lawsuits, including claims of copyright violation. While the company further pushes the limits of artificial intelligence technology despite these challenges, their operational behavior becomes questionable. Interestingly, both The Nikkei and The Asahi Shimbun have now sued Perplexity for copyright infringement.
In June 2024, Forbes criticized Perplexity for reportedly using its content without proper citations, further complicating the company’s legal landscape. Amazon’s overbearing legal threat forced Comet users to cease using generative AI assistants on its platform. This subsequent move served to double down on the seriousness of the situation for Perplexity.
Quality Concerns with Comet
Amazon claims that Perplexity’s Comet offers a highly inferior shopping and customer service experience. Amazon folks say that the application doesn’t even begin to coordinate with the shops participating. This lack of coordination is critical for delivering a truly seamless user experience. In turn, this has led Amazon to come out in favor of AI-powered third-party agents functioning with more transparency.
Perplexity spokesperson Srinivas defended the application with the assertion that it even isn’t plagiarizing content but instead aggregating content. He admitted Comet is still a prototype with many ‘rough edges’ that require polishing. This humble admission certainly shows the startup’s awareness of its current shortcomings but it emphasizes its devotion to an ever-better user experience.
Industry Implications
The implications for the future of all AI-powered retail, not just search, are profound, though, thanks to this extraordinary ongoing conflict between Amazon and Perplexity. As businesses adopt artificial intelligence tools at an accelerating pace, they face some complicated legal and ethical issues. Amazon argues that third-party apps, like Comet, should be subject to the same regulations as direct service providers. This claim raises important questions about accountability and transparency in AI use.
As this scenario plays out, other stakeholders across the business tech and retail industries are watchful. They are eager to see how Perplexity meets these challenges and whether it can continue to operate in a more closely watched world.
