Amazon’s message for agentic shopping agents is the same one the proprietor of the space jazz cantina on Mos Eisley had for R2-D2 and C-3PO in the original Star Wars: We don’t serve your kind here.

This week, the tech giant scored a court order against Perplexity that, for now, bans its agents from shopping the e-commerce site on users’ behalf. Consider it the first shot across the bow in a massive war over where and how AI agents can traverse the web.

Secret Agents

Amazon kicked off its legal fight against Perplexity in November, and the battle lines are pretty clear. Perplexity, via its Comet browser, is allowing users to dispatch agents to Amazon to shop for them. The agents, however, are not disclosing themselves as AI bots when accessing the platform, appearing like any other user of the body-and-soul variety. Amazon says this violates its terms of service and constitutes computer fraud. In other words, Amazon says platform authorization trumps user consent.

The implications, however, stretch far beyond a typical ToS technicality:

• For starters, the prospect of constantly shopping commerce agents (flagged by the infamous Citrini doomsday report as perhaps the most likely point of mass AI adoption) blows a hole through the $700 billion digital ad market. In 2025, Amazon scored some $68 billion in advertising sales, a business very much predicated on humans who can be persuaded by listing placements; empty-hearted robots, on the other hand, ruthlessly search for the best deals and couldn’t care less about which brands pay for top search placement, all while wrecking Amazon’s valuable ability to collect data on user behavior.
• Meanwhile, the promise of autonomous agents becomes a lot less appealing if platforms can bar them from entry. What’s more, AI and law experts tell The Daily Upside that platforms like Amazon could allow agents in, then introduce dynamic pricing tools to counteract AI-powered deal-hunting; platforms could also ban third-party agents altogether and require users to employ first-party bots.

Framework-in-Progress: While the lawsuit is ongoing, Amazon’s success in scoring a preliminary injunction against Perplexity is a sign that its argument has strong legal grounding, legal experts said. The case’s outcome could offer a framework for agentic AI law moving forward, though it might unfurl in several different ways. Jessica Eaves Mathews, an attorney experienced in AI law and the founder of Leverage Legal Group, told The Daily Upside that results might range from a US Supreme Court ruling to a settlement with a negotiated licensing deal, dubbing it agentic AI’s “Napster moment.” In the meantime, Google this year began recruiting commerce players such as Shopify, Etsy and Wayfair to its so-called “Universal Commerce Protocol” for agentic AI in a bid to define an industry-wide framework. That is, until lawmakers come up with one of their own and then take 15 years to set it up.

Jerome Powell’s Goldilocks economy just found a wolf at the door. Since 2012, the Federal Reserve has explicitly targeted a long-run inflation rate of 2%. Officials believe it’s the best way to promote a not-too-hot, not-too-cold economy with stable prices and maximum employment. A budding energy crisis due to the Iran war, however, is complicating matters.

Government figures released this week show US inflation held steady at 2.4% in February, a sign the economy was moving toward the Fed’s Goldilocks scenario. But, because the US-Israel war with Iran began on February 28, the data point is already more dated than a frosted mullet.

Rockets and Feathers

Indeed, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations confirmed a new attack in the Persian Gulf on Thursday, bringing to 16 the total number of vessel strikes relayed to the Naval Reserve-manned group. As a result, the world’s most important oil chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz, remains in near shutdown, threatening sustained high energy prices. Brent crude futures rose 9.2% to $100.46, topping $100 for the second time in less than a week. The average US gas price rose to $3.60 per gallon, up 22% from a month ago, according to AAA.

“Given this situation, we suspect that US headline inflation will move back above 3% during the second quarter and may not drop below 3% until the end of the year,” wrote James Knightley, ING’s chief international economist, adding that transport, logistics and travel costs are likely to rise. “We must acknowledge the risk that 2% inflation isn’t achieved until the second half of 2027.” Loyola Marymount economics professor Sung Won Sohn said energy inflation may persist well after the conflict ends. A senior economist in the Nixon White House (an administration very familiar with oil crises), he explained this is due to a “rockets and feathers” effect in which prices climb quickly and later drift down slowly:

• “When crude oil prices suddenly rise, retailers know that the next shipment of fuel will cost more,” Sohn wrote in a blog post. “As a result, they raise gasoline prices quickly in order to avoid selling current inventory too cheaply.”
• “When oil prices fall, however, retailers may still be selling gasoline that was purchased earlier at higher prices,” he continued. “Until that inventory is replaced with cheaper fuel, prices at the pump tend to fall gradually rather than immediately.”

What Now for the Fed? Markets are pricing in practically no chance of a rate cut when officials meet later this month, according to CME Fedwatch. More traders are pushing their expectations of a cut to September from June, with some even betting the Fed will hold rates steady all year.

Funds could soon be fighting over the last slice of Papa Johns pizza after a fresh bid reportedly emerged valuing the garlic dip hub at $1.5 billion. Papa Johns CEO Todd Penegor said on Thursday that he wouldn’t comment on “market speculation.”

Irth Capital, a global investment fund backed by the Qatari royal family, renewed its bid to take the pizza company private, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. The fund tried to buy the pizza chain alongside Apollo Global Management last year. Despite that deal falling apart, Irth has since upped its share of the company’s stock to 10%.

Papa Johns’ stock surged 19% Wednesday as investors anticipated the potential buyout. Irth’s offer to take the pizza chain private puts a ~50% premium on the company’s shares at $47 apiece.

Losing Dough

Papa Johns went public in 1993 and saw its share price peak at over $140 in 2021, as quarantined homebodies ordered pizza delivery. It has fallen more than 70% in the years since. The company struggled with weak demand, a problem that wasn’t remedied by the string of CEOs who took the helm after its namesake founder left in 2018. (“Papa” John Schnatter stepped down after he used a racial slur in a conference call.)

At the same time, the pizza chain can’t keep its crust from sagging in the marketplace:

• Domino’s Pizza increasingly dominates pizza delivery. The CEO of Domino’s, Russell Weiner, said last month that the pizza chain has eaten up 1% of market share per year for the past 11 years.
• While Domino’s has continued to grow, Papa Johns and Pizza Hut have both seen sales fall for the last two years. Papa Johns said last month it’ll close more than 300 stores by the end of next year, and Pizza Hut said it’ll close 250 this year.

Food Fight: Other suitors could emerge to bid on Papa Johns. Pizza Hut may also be up for grabs soon, with parent Yum! Brands saying last year it was exploring options for the struggling chain. Despite the pizza chains losing customers to Domino’s and its Stuffed Cheesy Bread, both have brand clout and have built delivery networks that could appeal to funds looking to get a slice of the industry.