Retail giant Walmart is taking a decisive step into the future of automated shopping by embracing agentic commerce through the launch of its own proprietary Agent Gateway. Unveiled by Walmart President and CEO John Furner at the Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco, the new infrastructure and its accompanying features are designed to seamlessly manage transactions and interactions for customers utilizing autonomous artificial intelligence agents.
The move sharply differentiates Walmart from other major players in the digital marketplace. While consumer adoption of AI agents is accelerating, many online businesses have chosen to block automated tools completely. Most notably, Walmart’s chief competitor, Amazon, recently began restricting AI agents from making purchases on behalf of online shoppers. Similarly, various travel and booking websites have responded to the technological shift by locking out AI agents entirely from their platforms.
In contrast, Walmart is leaning into the trend. The company had previously announced a high-profile partnership with Meta’s leading AI agent, Muse, alongside integrations with other popular AI applications like ChatGPT and Gemini. According to Furner, expanding on these foundational efforts is essential to preparing for a world where AI agents become mainstream tools for everyday consumers. Furthermore, this newly introduced technology is built to support agentic shopping not just for core Walmart customers, but also for members of the company’s discount warehouse division, Sam’s Club.
At the heart of this expansion is Walmart’s Agent Gateway, which functions as the company’s new Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. Originally created by Anthropic, the Model Context Protocol is designed to help AI agents securely connect to external data sources, software tools, and digital workflows. Through Walmart’s implementation of this protocol, approved AI agents gain the technical capability to search across the retailer’s vast online inventory and execute purchases on behalf of the agent’s human user.
Crucially, the retail giant has built privacy safeguards directly into the system. Walmart emphasizes that the Agent Gateway will allow customers to shop for their regular brands and preferred items without needing to share their sensitive personal information or complete purchase history directly with the AI agent.
To further manage the complex dynamics of automated shopping, Walmart has developed advanced technology aimed at distinguishing purchases initiated by an AI agent from those made directly by a human customer. These tools are paired with new governance features designed to give shoppers absolute oversight regarding what their autonomous assistants are permitted to do.
Among these consumer-facing controls are Agent Profiles, which are scheduled to roll out to user accounts next month. Through these profiles, customers will be able to officially authorize each AI agent they use, granting it a dedicated footprint within their primary account. This structure ensures that any purchases made by an agent are clearly separated and tracked independently from the user’s manual shopping activity.
Additionally, shoppers retain complete authority over how transactions are approved. Users can configure the system to require manual authorization for every individual purchase, or they can establish predefined spending limits within which the agent is allowed to operate autonomously. Walmart compares these protective controls to adding an authorized user to a traditional credit card account, where transactions remain clearly identified and spending caps can be strictly enforced.
According to the company, these Agent Profiles are automatically generated the first time a user employs a specific AI agent to shop via the Walmart Agent Gateway. To get started, a customer simply authorizes and links the profile to their primary Walmart account, after which they can configure their personal spending controls and limitations. Users retain the flexibility to delete an Agent Profile at any time. Walmart notes that support for AI agents will be available to anyone holding a standard Walmart account, meaning a paid Walmart+ membership is not a prerequisite for participation.
Alongside these technical tools and account controls, Walmart is introducing a specialized set of terms and conditions explicitly governing AI agents. These guidelines detail how automated systems must operate and define the precise scope of their rights to transact on the retailer’s digital storefronts.
Of particular note for early adopters, Walmart has confirmed that its standard returns policy applies to agentic transactions, even in scenarios where an AI agent fails to act as intended. This customer-friendly condition is expected to reassure cautious shoppers who might otherwise hesitate to experiment with agentic commerce, mitigating fears that a misbehaving or confused algorithm could leave them permanently stuck with unwanted merchandise.
At the same time, the retailer has established strict boundaries for automated behavior. Walmart explicitly states that AI agents are prohibited from taking actions that exceed the clear intent of the human shopper. Additionally, agents are barred from accessing the customer’s underlying payment information and are restricted to viewing only the specific data required to complete a given task. Any AI agent that fails to comply with these established operational terms will face immediate blocking from Walmart’s digital properties.
