Walmart opens its shelves to approved AI shopping agents, with spending controls

Shoppers will be able to set limits and approval rules on agent purchases from next month, a sharp contrast with Amazon's recent blocks.

Walmart has launched an Agent Gateway, a Model Context Protocol server that lets approved AI agents search its online inventory and buy items for shoppers, a move that contrasts with Amazon's recent blocking of shopping agents. Customers will be able to set up Agent Profiles next month, which keep an agent's purchases separate from their own and let them require approval for each order or set a spending cap, much like an authorized user on a credit card. Walmart has also published terms for agents: they cannot exceed what the shopper intends, cannot touch payment details, and can only see the data a task requires, with non-compliant agents blocked. Returns still apply when an agent makes a mistake, which addresses one major worry for early adopters. The gateway will also serve Sam's Club, and Walmart says agents can reorder usual items without receiving the shopper's full purchase history.