Walmart Launches AI Shopping Agent Gateway — SkimNews
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- Walmart launched Agent Gateway on Wednesday to support agentic shopping across Walmart and Sam’s Club.
- Agent Gateway is an MCP server based on the Model Context Protocol originally created by Anthropic, allowing approved agents to connect to external data and tools, search Walmart inventory and make purchases for users.
- Agent Gateway is designed to help shoppers find familiar brands and items without giving agents direct access to their personal information or purchase history.
- Agent Profiles, rolling out next month, will separate agent purchases from customer purchases and allow either approval for each transaction or a customer-set spending limit. Profiles will be created on an agent’s first use, can be deleted anytime and do not require Walmart+.
- Walmart’s special terms for agents prohibit exceeding shopper intent, accessing payment details or retrieving more than task-needed information; noncompliant agents will be blocked, and Walmart’s returns process applies when an agent does not act as intended.
- Amazon recently began blocking AI agents from making purchases for online shoppers, while travel and booking sites have locked automated agents out of their websites entirely.
- Muse was already partnered with Walmart, which also offered integrations with ChatGPT and Gemini before Wednesday’s Agent Gateway launch.
Why it matters: Walmart account holders can use Agent Profiles next month, choosing per-transaction approval or setting their own spending caps. The retailer also keeps its returns process in force when an agent acts unintentionally, giving shoppers concrete recourse for bot-made purchases rather than merely opening an automated checkout channel.
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