Walmart Launches Agent Gateway for AI Shopping and Control

On October 22, Walmart announced on Wednesday that it has officially launched its proprietary Agentic Gateway to handle transactions and introduced several new features for consumers using AI agents, marking a strategic move into agentic commerce. This announcement comes shortly after Amazon, Walmart’s top competitor, began blocking AI agents from placing orders on behalf of online shoppers.

IT Home noted that Walmart’s embrace of AI technology distinguishes it from other online retailers. Apart from Amazon, many travel and booking websites have chosen to directly block agent access in response to the growing trend of consumers using AI agents. In contrast, Walmart had previously announced a partnership with Meta’s Muse, a leading agent in this space, while also integrating popular AI applications such as ChatGPT and Gemini.

Speaking at the Masters of Scale summit in San Francisco on Wednesday, John Furner, President and CEO of Walmart, stated that the company is now intensifying its technology investments to prepare for an era where AI agents become widespread. This infrastructure will support agentic shopping for both Walmart and its discount warehouse chain, Sam’s Club.

At the core of this initiative is Walmart’s Agentic Gateway, a new Model Context Protocol (MCP) server designed to allow vetted agents to connect to Walmart’s platform via MCP. Originally developed by Anthropic, this protocol enables AI agents to interface with external data sources, tools, and various workflows. In this context, AI agents can retrieve Walmart’s online inventory and complete purchases on behalf of users.

Additionally, the retailer stated that through the Agentic Gateway, consumers can shop for their preferred brands or products without directly sharing personal information or purchase history with AI agents.

Walmart has also developed new technology to distinguish between orders placed by agents and those initiated directly by users, allowing shoppers to manage the operational permissions of these agents.

The upcoming Agent Profiles feature, launching next month, allows users to create separate authorization profiles within their accounts for each AI agent they use. Users can view orders generated by specific agents individually. They can also set custom order approval rules: requiring manual confirmation for every transaction or setting a spending limit, under which orders are automatically authorized.

Walmart explained that this permission management mechanism is similar to adding an authorized user to a credit card, where transactions can be identified and spending caps can be set.

According to the company, when a user first uses an agent to shop via Walmart’s Agentic Gateway, the system automatically generates a corresponding Agent Profile. The process involves authorizing the agent, linking the Agent Profile to the Walmart account, and then setting permissions or spending limits. Users can delete Agent Profiles at any time. Access to agentic features requires only a standard Walmart account; no Walmart+ membership is necessary.

Beyond these technical implementations, Walmart has established specific Terms of Use for AI agents, clearly defining operational standards and transaction permissions on the platform. Notably, Walmart stated that its return policy remains applicable even if an agent executes an action incorrectly. This consumer-friendly clause aims to alleviate concerns among early adopters of agentic commerce, ensuring they do not receive unwanted items due to agent errors.

Walmart also stipulated that agents must not perform actions beyond the user’s intent, cannot access payment information, and may only retrieve data strictly necessary to complete the current task. Agents that fail to comply with these terms will be blocked from accessing Walmart’s website.