Walmart will let AI agents shop on its website for customers

In short: Walmart says it will soon allow customers to connect AI agents to Walmart.com to shop on their behalf, with approval controls and spending limits.

What happened

Walmart says it will roll out support for AI agents on its website next month. An AI agent is a software helper that can carry out tasks for you, like adding items to a cart and checking out, based on your instructions.

Customers will be able to connect their own AI agent to Walmart.com and manage it through new “Agent Profiles” inside their Walmart account. Walmart says purchases will require approval by default, but shoppers can also allow the agent to buy within a set budget, like up to $100. Shoppers will be able to review the agent’s purchases separately and turn the agent off at any time.

Walmart also published rules for these agents. It says agents must not do anything beyond what the shopper intends, they cannot change a customer’s payment method, and they can only access the information needed to finish a task. Walmart says it will block agents that do not follow the rules.

To make this work, Walmart built an “Agent Gateway” that connects agents using the Model Context Protocol, an open standard (like a common plug shape that lets different tools connect). Walmart says this can help agents shop more smoothly than clicking around a web browser, and it is designed to keep an agent from seeing a customer’s full shopping history. Walmart says the same approach will work for Sam’s Club, too.

Why it matters

This is a sign that big retailers are making choices about whether to welcome AI shoppers or keep them out. Walmart is taking the open approach, while Amazon has recently blocked some shopping agents. For regular shoppers, the big question is whether these tools actually save time without creating new risks, like accidental purchases or sharing too much personal information.

Source: The Verge AI