Episode Summary: The $Billion Fight Over AI Shopping Influence

Podcast: The AI Podcast
Episode Date: November 12, 2025

Overview:

This episode dives deep into the legal dispute between Amazon and Perplexity over the use of AI-powered autonomous agents for online shopping. The host explores Perplexity’s response to Amazon’s legal threats, why Amazon objects to third-party AI agents, and what this feud means for the future of AI shopping assistants and user choice. The discussion is both analytical and personal, with the host clearly expressing support for the pro-innovation side.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Amazon vs Perplexity Feud

• [02:00] Amazon has sent legal threats to Perplexity, demanding that Perplexity's AI shopping assistant ("Comet browser") stop automated shopping actions on Amazon's site.

• [02:45] Perplexity publicly responds with a blog post titled Bullying is Not Innovation, accusing Amazon of trying to stifle user-driven innovation.

  "Bullying, on the other hand, is when large corporations use legal threats and intimidation to block innovation and make life worse for people." – Perplexity Blog, summarized by Host [03:05]

• [04:10] Amazon's likely motivation, according to the host, is protecting their own underused AI shopping assistant (Rufous AI) and preempting competition from third-party agentic tools.

2. What Do AI Shopping Agents Do?

• [05:05] Explanation of how AI assistants like Perplexity’s Comet browser (and OpenAI’s Atlas) operate:

  • Users can instruct the AI to shop on Amazon with detailed requests (e.g., specific size, delivery time, good reviews).
  • These tools automate the shopping process, filtering through clutter and upsells.

  "This is literally what I want. Finally, it's great technology and Amazon is mad about it." – Host [06:00]

3. Amazon’s Response and Stance

• [07:15] Amazon's official statement:

  • Third-party applications making purchases on behalf of users should operate openly and respect service providers’ decisions.
  • Amazon claims AI agents like Comet "significantly degrade the shopping and customer service experience".

  "We've repeatedly requested that Perplexity remove Amazon from the comment experience, particularly in light of...the significantly degraded shopping and customer service experience it provides." – Amazon, as read by Host [07:50]

• [08:30] Host rebuts, arguing that using Comet actually improves the shopping experience by cutting through Amazon’s cluttered interface and hidden promotions.

4. User Experience & The Real Problem

• [09:30] Host discusses Amazon's incentive structure:

  • The platform is cluttered, prioritizes upsells, promotes Amazon’s own products, and resists transparency (e.g., hard to filter by price).
  • AI agents offer a solution by efficiently finding exactly what the user wants.

  "As a user of Comet...I would say it is not a degraded shopping experience. Amazon should probably ask themselves, why are people using Comet on our platform?" – Host [09:45]

• [11:00] The host speculates that Amazon’s request for Comet to identify itself as a bot is a pretext for blocking the technology or limiting its abilities.

5. The Broader AI Agent Debate and Precedent

• [12:15] Host draws parallels to previous conflicts, e.g., Cloudflare accusing Perplexity of scraping against site policies.

• [13:00] Discussion about the costs of bots for sites like Wikipedia, but distinction made between large-scale scraping and user-initiated, task-specific shopping.

  "If I could send a personal assistant, why would I not be able to send my AI agent to do the same task?" – Host [12:40]

• [14:25] Asserts the legitimacy of agents automating tasks at the direction of human users—should be treated like a human using a virtual assistant.

6. Consequences & Future of AI Shopping

• [15:10] If Amazon blocks AI agents, users may shift to competitors like Walmart, despite their inferior service speed; universal use of AI agents for shopping is the likely future.

  "If Amazon just blocks Comet, blocks AI agents, fine, I'll go to Best Buy or some other platform or Walmart." – Host [15:35]

• [16:35] Host is incredulous at Amazon’s claim of “degraded” experience, criticizing Amazon’s UI and approach.

  "As if scrolling through a thousand links on your horribly ugly UI website isn't a degraded shopping experience. You are literally an assault to my eyes when I'm using Amazon." – Host [16:40]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On innovation vs. “bullying”:

  • "I completely agree with the sentiment here. I think that Perplexity made something useful...Amazon is trying to block Comet because they want to own agentic AI shopping." – Host [04:30]

• On the user perspective:

  • "An AI agent where I can just say, go find me the freaking bamboo toothbrush that is $7 or less and can get here tomorrow...that is a genuinely useful thing." – Host [10:50]

• On the future outlook:

  • "Hopefully Amazon kind of reverses trend on this and realizes this is the way that people will be shopping in the future." – Host [16:05]

Important Timestamps

• [02:00] – Legal threat details and Perplexity’s blog post
• [05:05] – How Comet and Atlas AI browsers function for shopping
• [07:15] – Amazon’s official statement and “degraded experience” accusation
• [09:30] – Host’s critique of Amazon’s interface and motivation
• [12:15] – Wider debate about bots, scrapers, and user-initiated agency
• [15:10] – Prediction about user migration and market pressure
• [16:35] – Final rebuke of Amazon’s user experience claims

Conclusion

This episode spotlights a pivotal conflict over the future of AI-driven online shopping. The host strongly sides with user empowerment and technological innovation, labeling Amazon’s stance as protectionist and out of sync with user needs. By laying out both companies’ arguments and contextualizing with broader industry disputes, the podcast delivers a clear, critical, and user-focused perspective on how big-tech decisions shape the evolving landscape of AI commerce.