Perplexity Takes On Amazon
Don’t get me wrong. While websites have long had the right to block bots that attempt to crawl them, it’s also not unheard of for big tech firms to seek to stymie potentially disruptive tactics by newcomers. An AI agent—which in theory can take action on behalf of users, like browsing Amazon’s marketplace and buying stuff—would certainly qualify as a disruptive newcomer. Amazon generates tens of billions a year selling ad space on its marketplace, a highly profitable revenue stream that will diminish if people start using agents to shop rather than browsing themselves. So Perplexity may be right about Amazon’s possible motivation.
Amazon didn’t help itself with its weak response. It said Perplexity should respect Amazon’s wishes that its shopping agent avoid Amazon’s marketplace, to “ensure a positive customer experience.” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy was more convincing on the company’s earnings call last week, when he detailed what was wrong with outside AI agents offering to buy stuff for people. “There’s no personalization, there’s no shopping history, the delivery estimates are frequently wrong, the prices are often wrong,” he said. That sounds believable, given the hit-and-miss nature of AI chatbots generally. (These consumer reviews suggest Perplexity’s agent shopping service leaves something to be desired.)
But is this a reason for Amazon to block Perplexity? It’s possible Amazon is worried shoppers will blame it for screwups on their order, rather than holding Perplexity responsible. Jassy also said last week that Amazon will find “ways to partner” with outside agents. Amazon is presumably trying to control how agents evolve, at least on its own marketplace (see our story on this subject from July and a more recent story on Perplexity’s commerce effort).
This situation has echoes of the battle underway in enterprise software, as companies like Salesforce push back against the attempts of newer AI search tools like Glean to connect to their apps. AI is turning the established order in tech upside down. It’s understandable that newcomers like Perplexity want to claim victim status, but things are never as simple as they seem.