Walmart opens its site to AI shopping agents with MCP-based Agent Gateway

Walmart has announced an Agent Gateway that will let customers connect their own AI agents to shop on its website and at Sam's Club, positioning itself as the open alternative to Amazon, which has been blocking agents from buying on shoppers' behalf.

According to TechCrunch, Walmart President and CEO John Furner unveiled the technology at the Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco on Wednesday, framing it as preparation for a future where AI agents become mainstream. The Verge reports the capability arrives next month.

How the Agent Gateway works

The gateway is Walmart's new server for the Model Context Protocol, an open standard originally created by Anthropic that lets AI agents connect to external data sources and tools. TechCrunch reports that it allows an approved agent to search Walmart's online inventory and complete purchases for its user, while The Verge notes the approach sidesteps the problems agents run into when navigating a regular browser.

The gateway also acts as a buffer for personal data. According to The Verge, Walmart will help an agent find a customer's usual items — the company's example is sourdough bread or a particular brand of milk — without exposing the customer's broader shopping history or personal information to the agent.

Alongside the gateway, Walmart is introducing Agent Profiles. TechCrunch explains that a profile is created the first time you shop with a given agent: you authorize it, link it to your Walmart account and set your controls. Agent purchases then appear separately from your own, and a profile can be deleted at any time. A Walmart+ membership is not required.

Purchase controls and agent rules

By default, every agent-initiated purchase requires customer approval, though The Verge reports you can instead allow purchases within a set budget, such as up to $100, and switch an agent off whenever you like. TechCrunch likens the arrangement to adding an authorized user to a credit card, where that person's transactions are identified and their spending can be capped.

Agents will also operate under explicit terms. According to The Verge, Walmart's rules state that "agents must not take actions beyond what the shopper intends." TechCrunch adds that agents cannot access customers' payment information and may only use the data needed for the task at hand, while The Verge describes the payment restriction as a ban on changing a customer's payment method. Agents that break the terms will be blocked from Walmart's site.

One customer-friendly detail stands out in TechCrunch's reporting: Walmart's normal returns process applies even when an agent does not act as intended, so early testers will not be stuck with unwanted purchases.

A different bet than Amazon

The launch sets Walmart apart from much of the e-commerce industry. TechCrunch reports that Amazon has started blocking AI agents from making purchases on behalf of shoppers, and that various travel and booking sites have likewise locked agents out of their platforms. The Verge specifically notes that Amazon blocked Perplexity's shopping agent and Meta's Muse assistant. Walmart, by contrast, already has a partnership with Muse and offers integrations with popular AI apps including ChatGPT and Gemini, according to TechCrunch.

Why it matters

The split between Walmart and Amazon sketches the two available responses to agentic commerce: lock agents out, or build sanctioned rails for them. Walmart is betting that controlled access — verified profiles, spending caps, approval flows and a returns safety net — can turn AI agents into a sales channel rather than a threat. Choosing MCP as the connection point also signals that the Anthropic-created protocol is becoming a practical standard for commerce, not just a developer curiosity. If the model works, other retailers may feel pressure to open up rather than wall themselves off; if agents misbehave at scale, Walmart's terms and blocking powers give it levers to pull. Either way, this is one of the first high-volume tests of whether shoppers will genuinely let software do the grocery run.