Authorized by the User, Blocked by the Platform: Testing the Legal Limits of AI Agents
Agentic AI faces a first major judicial test as the Ninth Circuit considers how federal and state computer-access statutes apply to "AI agents"—AI-enabled software that can autonomously take actions and interact with digital environments such as websites or applications on a user's behalf.
Background
Under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), it is unlawful to obtain information by intentionally accessing a protected computer system without authorization or in excess of authorized access. In Facebook, Inc. v. Power Ventures, Inc., 844 F.3d 1058 (9th Cir. 2016), the Ninth Circuit held that a platform operator may revoke a third party's access to its systems—even where users voluntarily shared their credentials—and that continued access after a cease-and-desist letter constitutes unauthorized access under the CFAA. Until now, no court had applied this framework to AI agents.
The Dispute
In November 2025, Amazon sued Perplexity AI, alleging that Perplexity's Comet application accessed Amazon's protected computer systems without authorization in violation of the CFAA and California's equivalent statute. Comet is an "agentic AI" browser that interacts with Amazon.com on behalf of users—logging into accounts, viewing products and initiating purchases. Amazon alleged Perplexity disguised Comet as a human user to evade technological barriers, and sought injunctive relief. Perplexity responded that the suit was Amazon's attempt to suppress a competing AI product that undermines Amazon's advertising and upselling practices.
On March 9, 2026, relying on Power Ventures, Judge Maxine M. Chesney granted Amazon's motion for preliminary injunction, finding "strong evidence" that Perplexity violated the CFAA and California's equivalent statute by accessing Amazon's systems without authorization after Amazon issued a cease-and-desist letter and transmitting private user data to Perplexity's servers. Judge Chesney enjoined Perplexity from using AI agents to access Amazon's systems or creating or using Amazon accounts for that purpose, and ordered Perplexity to destroy all Amazon data obtained by its AI agents. Perplexity appealed and the Ninth Circuit stayed the injunction pending resolution of the appeal.
Significance
Judge Chesney's ruling extends the Power Ventures principle—that platform operators retain authority to revoke third-party access regardless of user consent—to AI agents. Companies deploying AI agents should monitor the Ninth Circuit's decision and reassess compliance strategies for third-party platform access. The ruling will also clarify the extent to which website and platform operators can control third-party AI agents' access to their proprietary systems.
