Would you let an AI assistant do your grocery run? Walmart is betting that a growing number of people will, and it wants to set the rules before that becomes the norm. On Wednesday, October 21, the retailer announced a set of tools designed to let AI agents shop on customers’ behalf while keeping people in control of what those agents can buy.

The plan includes three parts: Agent Profiles, the Walmart Agent Gateway and new terms that agents must follow. Here is how it works, based on Walmart’s announcement and reporting from TechCrunch.

The problem Walmart is trying to solve

Today, when someone uses an AI agent to shop, the agent typically signs in with the customer’s own account and clicks through a website designed for humans. Walmart says that approach can be slow and error-prone, with agents getting stuck along the way. It also means every purchase, whether made by the person or the bot, shows up together with no way to tell them apart.

Agent Profiles: a separate identity for your bot

Rolling out over the next month, Agent Profiles give each AI agent its own dedicated profile inside a customer’s Walmart account. That lets shoppers see the agent’s purchases separately from their own.

Customers can choose how purchases get approved: either require approval for every order, or let the agent buy within a spending limit they set, such as $50, $100 or $200. Walmart compares it to adding an authorized user to a credit card, with your own limits and the ability to switch them off at any time. Profiles are created automatically the first time you shop with a given agent through the gateway, and you link it by signing into your Walmart account. TechCrunch notes that agent support works for anyone with a Walmart account, without a Walmart+ membership.

The Agent Gateway: shopping built for machines

The Walmart Agent Gateway is a server that uses the Model Context Protocol, or MCP, an open standard originally created by Anthropic that lets AI agents connect to outside tools and data. Instead of clicking around a website, an approved agent can search Walmart and Sam’s Club inventory and complete purchases directly. Walmart says it is starting with a beta for companies and developers.

One notable promise: the gateway can help an agent find a customer’s usual items, like a favorite brand of milk or bread, without sharing the customer’s personal information or broader purchase history with the agent.

The new rules for AI agents

Walmart is also publishing terms that spell out what agents can and cannot do:

  • Customers must approve agent purchases by default, and Walmart may require extra approvals even within a spending limit.
  • Agents must not take actions beyond what the shopper intends.
  • Agents do not receive payment card information and cannot add or change payment methods.
  • Agents can access only the information needed for the task and allowed by the customer.
  • Walmart’s returns process applies, including when an agent does not act as intended.
  • Agents that break the rules will be blocked.

Walmart also says prices are the same for agents and people: “We price products, not people.”

A split in retail

The announcement stands out because not every retailer is welcoming bots. TechCrunch reports that Amazon has begun blocking AI agents from making purchases for shoppers, and some travel and booking sites have locked agents out entirely. Walmart, by contrast, already works with assistants including ChatGPT and Gemini and is now building infrastructure specifically for agents. The split shows that companies are still deciding whether an AI agent should be treated like a customer or like an unwelcome scraper.

Should you try it?

Walmart itself says shopping with an agent “won’t be for everyone.” If you are curious, the safest approach is to start small: require approval for every purchase, keep any spending limit low, and review your agent’s order history regularly. The built-in returns policy offers a safety net if something goes wrong.

The bottom line

AI shopping agents are moving from demo to checkout lane. Walmart’s approach of separate profiles, firm spending limits and published rules is one of the clearest attempts yet to make that shift safe for everyday shoppers. Whether customers embrace it, and whether rivals follow, will shape how all of us shop in the years ahead.

Image: Renovated Walmart store in Clinton Maryland by IFCAR via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain Mark 1.0