By Roman Aglaganov
While Amazon blocks AI agents from shopping on its site, Walmart is inviting them in. On 21 October it announced Agent Gateway, a server that lets approved AI agents search its inventory and place orders for customers on Walmart and Sam’s Club.
How it works
The gateway: agents connect over the Model Context Protocol (MCP), the open standard first created by Anthropic for linking AI models to tools. Walmart says customers can shop their usual brands without handing their personal details or purchase history to the agent.
Agent profiles: rolling out in November, each agent gets its own profile inside the customer’s Walmart account, so its purchases are listed separately. You can require approval for every order or set a spending limit under which the agent can buy on its own. Walmart compares it to adding an authorised user to a credit card.
For everyone: any Walmart account holder can use it; Walmart+ is not required. Profiles can be deleted at any time.
The rules for agents
Walmart’s terms say agents may not act beyond what the shopper intends, may not see payment information, and may only access the data a task needs. Normal returns apply even if an agent buys the wrong thing, and agents that break the rules will be blocked.
Why it matters
Retailers are splitting into two camps. Amazon blocked Meta’s Muse agent in September, and several travel sites have shut agents out. Walmart, which already works with Muse, ChatGPT and Gemini, is betting that the shop agents prefer will win the sales. Its answer to the hardest question, who is responsible when an agent buys something you did not want, is a familiar one: limits, a separate statement, and the returns desk.
