Home · Technology · Oct 24 archive
Walmart Invites AI Agents to Shop for Customers
Confirmed
In Short: Walmart announced on October 21, 2026, that it will allow artificial intelligence agents to shop on its website, creating a dedicated profile for each agent within a customer's account.
Walmart announced on October 21, 2026, that it will allow artificial intelligence agents to shop on its website, creating a dedicated profile for each agent within a customer's account.
The company's new infrastructure includes Agent Profiles, the Walmart Agent Gateway, and a set of terms that AI agents must follow.
According to Walmart, the Agent Profiles will enable shoppers to authorize individual AI agents, track their purchases separately, and set spending limits or require approval for each transaction.
The Walmart Agent Gateway will allow AI assistants such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Meta’s Muse to connect directly with Walmart and Sam’s Club systems to search products and complete purchases.
Walmart stated that its goal is to make its experience the most trusted by building clear controls and protections into the experience from the start.
All purchases made by the customer or the agent will appear together in the account, without any differentiation.
The company also noted that it will roll out Agent Profiles next month, enabling shoppers to authorize individual AI agents, track their purchases separately, and set spending limits or require approval for each transaction.
Walmart’s embrace of AI technology differentiates it from other online businesses, including not only Amazon but also various travel and booking sites, which have responded to the growing consumer adoption of AI agents by locking them out of their websites completely.
The company’s move underscores its push into AI-enabled shopping, and strikes a contrast with Amazon, which has sought to limit third-party AI shopping agents’ access to its platform.
In January 2026, the advocacy group Groundwork argued that Google's agentic shopping standard could enable what it called a 'surveillance pricing squeeze', a claim Google rejected as inaccurate.
A federal judge ordered Perplexity's Comet to stop shopping on Amazon and delete the data it collected, while the Ninth Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction that had barred Perplexity's Comet browser agent from shopping on Amazon accounts.
The retailer said it will roll out 'Agent Profiles' next month, enabling shoppers to authorize individual AI agents, track their purchases separately, and set spending limits or require approval for each transaction.
What this adds
Walmart's move stands in stark contrast to Amazon's approach, which recently blocked Perplexity’s shopping agent and Meta’s Muse AI assistant.
Walmart's embrace of AI agents is a significant shift from its previous stance, as it had previously called sales through ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout disappointing.
Background
Walmart's embrace of AI agents stands in stark contrast to Amazon's approach, which recently blocked Perplexity’s shopping agent and Meta’s Muse AI assistant.
What's confirmed
- The post, published on the Walmart corporate newsroom without a named author, describes a dedicated profile for each agent inside a customer's account, optional spending limits, a faster machine-to-machine route for agents and a rule that agents which break the terms will be blocked from Walmart's site.
- Walmart on October 21, 2026, set out three pieces of infrastructure for artificial intelligence agents that shop for its customers: Agent Profiles, the Walmart Agent Gateway and a set of terms that agents must follow on Walmart and Sam's Club.
What's still developing
- "Sparky and conversational commerce integrations with Muse, ChatGPT, Gemini and others."
- "with the Amazon user's permission, but without authorization by Amazon."
- An AI assistant that gets stonewalled trying to buy a toaster on Amazon will simply route the purchase to Walmart instead, no debate required.
- MCP, short for Model Context Protocol, is the connector standard Anthropic built so AI agents can reach outside tools and data sources without needing a custom integration for every site.
- Walmart is embracing agentic commerce with the launch of its own Agent Gateway to manage transactions and other new features aimed at customers using AI agents, the retailer announced on Wednesday.
- Alongside these technologies, Walmart is introducing special “terms” for AI agents, which specify how they must operate and what rights they have to transact on its site.
- What’s more, the retailer says that its Agent Gateway will be able to help customers shop for their usual brands or items without having to share their personal information or purchase history directly with the agent.
- “… the momentum and buy-in from top management teams seems to be making this into a real thing,” Bellinger added.
- The announcement puts Walmart on the opposite side from its largest competitor.
- It is also a step further than Walmart went in March, when it moved to Sparky on ChatGPT after calling sales through ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout disappointing.
- From 21 September, Amazon blocked Meta’s Muse agent from shopping Amazon.com, telling users that an unauthorized AI agent violates its Conditions of Use.
- Walmart says it will begin with a beta for companies and developers, and the post gives no date for a wider release.