Appeals Court Agrees with EFF that Building a Web Browser Doesn’t Violate the CFAA
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has endorsed a commonsense technical interpretation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a law not usually given to such interpretation. Amazon had sued Perplexity AI to try to shut down its Comet browser, claiming the browser’s optional agentic AI “Assistant” that can browse websites like Amazon for comparison shopping purposes, violated the CFAA because…
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Perplexity AI, stating that building a web browser with an optional AI assistant does not violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Amazon had sued Perplexity AI, alleging that its Comet browser's AI assistant violated the CFAA by accessing Amazon users' accounts without authorization.
However, the appeals court disagreed, emphasizing that users operate the tool, not Perplexity itself. The court explained that the CFAA requires unauthorized "access," and Perplexity does not access Amazon's servers; users do. While the court recognized that agentic AI may present legal challenges, it determined that the AI assistant is a tool, not a person, for statutory purposes.
The decision highlights the importance of protecting upstarts and innovators from potential liability when offering helpful tools to users.
Written by urgent.news from EFF Deeplinks's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.