Just posted to my Forbes column on a surprisingly consequential AI lawsuit … and why two nonprofits just sided with Amazon against Perplexity on one very specific issue.
The article digs into Amazon’s case against Perplexity over AI agents that can shop on users’ behalf, and the amicus brief filed by Legal Advocates for Safe Science and Technology and Encode AI.
Their core argument: AI agents aren’t just tools anymore — they’re autonomous, fast, and sometimes unpredictable systems, and because of that, they should be required to identify themselves as non-human. That transparency, they say, is essential for security, accountability, and trust on the internet, even if it complicates the future of agent-driven commerce.
I explore why this matters far beyond this single lawsuit, how disclosure could reshape online shopping, pricing, and platform power, and why there’s real tension between what’s best for individual users and what might be best for society. I include a look at who these nonprofits are, how they’re funded, and why this “narrow” identification issue is actually the linchpin for the entire case.