Walmart to Open Its Site to AI Agents Shopping on Users' Behalf Next Month
Walmart announced that starting next month it will allow users to connect their own AI agents to its website to shop on their behalf, and will offer Agent Profiles features including purchase approval, budget caps, and separate views of agent orders. Walmart connects agents through an Agent Gateway based on the Model Context Protocol, saying this avoids obstacles in browser-based operations and does not expose users' full shopping history or personal information to agents. Walmart also stipulates that agents must not act beyond the user's intent and must not change payment methods, and violators will be banned—a contrast to Amazon's blocking of the Perplexity shopping agent and Meta Muse.
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The opposing stances of Walmart and Amazon toward AI shopping agents offer a concrete example for observing how retail platforms set rules for agent access.
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Walmart will soon let AI agents shop on its website for you. Next month, the retail giant will allow you to connect your own AI agent to the site, with systems in place to let you approve and review purchases and set spending limits.
The embrace of AI agents stands in stark contrast to Amazon, which blocked Perplexity’s shopping agent and Meta’s Muse AI assistant . But Walmart is opening its doors to AI shoppers — as long as they follow the retailer’s rules. It has outlined a set of terms for agents, saying that “agents must not take actions beyond what the shopper intends” and cannot change a customer’s payment method. Agents also can only access information needed to complete their task. Walmart says it will block agents that don’t follow these terms.
Agents will connect to new “Agent Profiles” within Walmart. By default, Walmart will require approval for all AI agent purchases, but you can also let it shop within a certain budget, such as up to $100. You’ll also be able to review your agent’s purchases separately from your own in Agent Profiles, as well as turn off the agent at any time.
The retailer has built an “Agent Gateway” that connects AI agents through the Model Context Protocol, an open standard that allows AI agents to plug into different services on the web. Walmart says this not only enables AI agents to shop without running into hiccups that they might encounter when navigating a browser, but also prevents them from accessing your shopping history and personal information.
“For example, if a customer tends to buy sourdough bread or a particular brand of milk, Walmart will help the agent find those usual items for the customer without sharing the customer’s broader shopping history with the agent,” Walmart says. The company will let users shop with AI agents on Sam’s Club as well.