Walmart announced on Wednesday that it is launching an Agent Gateway to handle purchases made by AI agents. The retailer also revealed new tools for customers who use AI agents to shop online.
The news comes shortly after Amazon, Walmart’s top competitor, began blocking AI agents from making purchases for online shoppers. In September, Meta’s AI agent was blocked from using Amazon’s website.
Some travel and booking sites have also locked AI agents out of their websites completely. Walmart is taking a different approach.
Walmart president and CEO John Furner shared the plans at the Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco. He said the company is preparing for a world where AI agents become mainstream.
The new tools will support agentic shopping at both Walmart and its discount warehouse chain, Sam’s Club.
How Walmart’s Agent Gateway Works
The Agent Gateway is Walmart’s new MCP server. It lets approved AI agents connect to Walmart using the model context protocol, or MCP.
Anthropic originally created the protocol. It allows AI agents to connect to outside data sources, tools, and workflows.
Through the gateway, an AI agent can search Walmart’s online inventory and buy items for its user. Walmart says customers can shop for their usual brands without sharing personal information or purchase history directly with the agent.
Walmart had already announced a partnership with Meta’s Muse agent. It also offers integrations with popular AI apps like ChatGPT and Gemini.
New Controls for Shoppers
Walmart will give customers a way to set up a separate profile for each AI agent they use. These are called Agent Profiles.
The profiles let shoppers see an agent’s purchases separately from their own. Customers can require approval for each purchase or allow purchases up to a spending limit they choose.
Walmart compared the controls to adding an authorized user to a credit card. That user’s purchases are labeled, and the cardholder can cap their spending.
A profile is created the first time a customer uses an agent through the gateway. Shoppers link it to their Walmart account, set their controls, and can delete it at any time.
Agent support is open to anyone with a Walmart account. A Walmart+ membership is not required.
Walmart is also introducing special terms for AI agents. The terms explain how agents must operate and what rights they have to make purchases on the site.
Under the terms, agents cannot act beyond what the shopper intends or access customers’ payment information. They can only use the information needed for a given task.
Walmart’s returns process applies, including when an agent does not act as intended. Agents that do not follow the terms will be blocked from the site.
Agent Profiles are set to begin rolling out to customers next month.
