Walmart announced a service called Agent Gateway at the Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco on Wednesday. The platform lets approved AI agents, such as Meta’s Muse, ChatGPT or Gemini, search Walmart’s inventory and place orders on behalf of a shopper. The rollout follows Amazon’s decision to block AI agents from buying on its site.
How the system works for shoppers
When a shopper first uses an AI agent to shop, Walmart creates an Agent Profile linked to the shopper’s account. The profile records the agent’s purchases separately and lets the user set limits – either requiring approval for each order or capping total spend. Users can edit or delete the profile at any time, and no Walmart+ membership is required.
Safety and return policies
Walmart says agents cannot see a shopper’s payment details and can only access the data needed for a specific task. The company also applies its standard returns process to agent‑initiated orders, protecting users if an agent makes a mistake.
Why it matters
Regular shoppers can now let AI assistants handle routine purchases without sharing full payment data, potentially saving time. The built‑in controls let users keep tight oversight, so they aren’t locked into unwanted orders. However, the service is still limited to approved agents and requires shoppers to set up a separate profile for each one.
