Walmart Opens an Agent Gateway for AI Shoppers as Amazon Keeps Blocking Them

Customers can require approval for every purchase or allow spending up to a limit they choose, with examples of $50, $100 or $200. They can see what each agent bought, turn permissions off or delete a profile at any time. TechCrunch says Walmart likens this to adding an authorised user on a credit card.

What rules do the agents have to follow?

Walmart's terms bar agents from acting beyond what the shopper intends and from receiving card details or changing payment methods. They may use only the information a task needs. Agents that break the rules will be blocked from Walmart's site. The returns process applies even if an agent buys the wrong thing, and the same Every Day Low Price applies to agents and people.

Walmart named Meta's Muse, ChatGPT and Gemini among its integrations. That Muse link matters, because Amazon is the rival that shut the door on the same agent, as we reported in September when Amazon blocked Meta's Muse from shopping on its site.

Why does the split matter?

Retailers that welcome agents get sales routed through them, along with a chance to set the rules. Those that block them keep control of the shopper relationship, but risk being invisible when a customer simply asks an assistant to reorder. TechCrunch notes that travel and booking sites have also locked agents out.

The test will be next month, when the first consumers hand their agents a spending limit and see how often the approval prompts appear, and whether any retailer other than Walmart follows.