Amazon blocks AI agents, while Walmart welcomes them

Walmart said on Wednesday it is entering agentic commerce with Agent Gateway, a new Model Context Protocol server meant to manage transactions and other features for customers using AI agents. It is designed to let approved AI agents search Walmart’s online inventory and make purchases on behalf of users. The move matters because Walmart is choosing to accommodate AI shopping assistants at a time when some major online sellers are moving away from them.

Background: Competitors Close Off AI Agents

The launch comes shortly after Walmart’s top competitor, Amazon, began blocking AI agents from making purchases on behalf of online shoppers. Other online businesses, including travel and booking sites, have responded to growing consumer adoption of AI agents by locking them out of their websites completely. Walmart has instead leaned into the technology. It had already announced a partnership with Meta’s Muse and offers integrations with popular AI apps such as ChatGPT and Gemini.

Development: Agent Gateway Builds a Connection for Approved Agents

At the Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco, Walmart president and CEO John Furner said the company is expanding those efforts to prepare for a world in which AI agents become mainstream. The new technology will support agentic shopping from Walmart and from its discount warehouse, Sam’s Club.

Agent Gateway is Walmart’s new Model Context Protocol server. It is designed to help approved agents connect to Walmart through the protocol, which was originally created by Anthropic and allows AI agents to reach external data sources, tools, and other workflows. In Walmart’s setup, an agent can search across the retailer’s online inventory and complete purchases for its user. Walmart says the gateway can also let customers shop for their usual brands or items without sharing personal information or purchase history directly with the agent.

Latest progress: Agent Profiles arrive next month

Walmart has also developed technology to distinguish purchases made by an agent from those initiated directly by the customer. Agent Profiles, rolling out next month, will give each AI agent a dedicated profile inside a customer’s account. Customers can see agent purchases separately and decide how transactions get approved: by requiring approval for each transaction, or by allowing purchases within a spending limit they set.

The retailer compares the control to adding someone as an authorized user on a credit card, where their transactions are identified and their spending can be capped. Agent Profiles are created the first time a customer uses a given agent through the Walmart Agent Gateway. To begin, the customer authorizes and links the profile to a Walmart account, then sets controls or spending limits. The profile can be deleted at any time. Agent support is available to anyone with a Walmart account; a Walmart+ membership is not necessary.

Terms and returns: Walmart sets boundaries for agent behavior

Alongside the tools, Walmart is introducing special terms for AI agents that specify how they must operate and what rights they have to transact on the site. The returns process applies, including when an agent does not act as intended. That gives early testers a familiar safety net: they are less likely to be left with unwanted products because an agent made a bad purchase.

The terms also limit what agents can do. An agent cannot take actions beyond what the shopper intends, cannot access the customer’s payment information, and can only access the information needed for the given task. Agents that do not comply will be blocked from accessing Walmart’s site.

Current stage: Walmart is building supervised agent shopping

Walmart is currently at the stage of building the rails for agent shopping rather than letting agents roam freely across its storefront. Agent Gateway and the new terms have been announced, while Agent Profiles are scheduled for rollout next month. The near-term questions are which agents will be approved, how customers will set spending limits, and whether other retailers will follow Walmart’s open approach instead of blocking AI agents.

Meta description: Walmart launches Agent Gateway and Agent Profiles next month, adding Model Context Protocol shopping controls for AI agents on Walmart and Sam's Club.

Tags: Walmart, Agent Gateway, Agent Profiles, Model Context Protocol, agentic commerce

Featured image: abstract technology style showing a digital shopping cart connected to an AI agent network, no real people, no company logos, no text.