Key Point: In a significant ruling for the AI industry, the Ninth Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction against Perplexity AI, holding that Amazon was unlikely to succeed on its Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and California Comprehensive Data Access and Fraud Act (CDAFA) claims. The court concluded that Perplexity’s AI Assistant is a “tool, not a person” for statutory purposes, and that it is the user who “accesses” websites visited using the AI-powered Comet browser. The decision provides the first major appellate guidance on how the CFAA applies to agentic AI systems, though the court was careful to cabin its holding to the specific facts presented.






