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

Amazon doesn’t privation to beryllium a portion of Perplexity’s AI-powered buying experience. In a station connected Tuesday, the ecommerce elephantine says it has “repeatedly requested” that Perplexity halt allowing its Comet AI browser to bargain 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 tin find and acquisition products from assorted websites — including Amazon — connected your behalf. But now, Perplexity says it has received an “aggressive ineligible threat” from Amazon that demands that it halt allowing its AI adjunct to store for users — thing the AI startup claims is astatine likelihood with Amazon’s values.

“Amazon should emotion this. Easier buying means much transactions and happier customers,” Perplexity writes. “But Amazon doesn’t care. They’re much funny successful serving you ads, sponsored results, and influencing your purchasing decisions with upsells and confusing offers.” In the post, Perplexity besides cites a punctuation from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who said during an net telephone past week that the institution expects to “partner with third-party agents” implicit time.

“This is similar if you went to a store and the store lone allowed you to prosecute a idiosyncratic shopper who worked for the store,” Perplexity spokesperson Jesse Dwyer said successful a connection to The Verge. “That’s not a idiosyncratic shopper — that’s a income associate.”

Meanwhile, Amazon’s connection says third-party applications that acquisition products for customers connected its tract “should respect work supplier decisions whether oregon not to participate,” claiming that Comet provides a “significantly degraded buying and lawsuit work experience.”