On October 21, 2026 Walmart announced three things for outside AI shopping agents: an MCP-based Agent Gateway, Agent Profiles inside customer accounts, and terms that agents must follow on Walmart and Sam's Club. Weeks earlier Amazon had started blocking Meta's Muse, so the two largest US retailers now take opposite positions on the same question.
The Three Parts
| Part | What it does | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Agent Gateway | Lets agents shop through MCP instead of navigating the website. Agents can find a customer's usual items without receiving their wider shopping history | Beta for companies and developers, through walmart.com/agents |
| Agent Profiles | Gives each agent its own profile in the customer's account, with its purchases shown separately. Created on first use and linked when the customer signs in | Promised within a month of October 21. No confirmed launch yet |
| Terms for AI agents | Rules on approval, payment data, and data access. Agents that break them are blocked | Published |
How Customer Control Works
- Purchases need the customer's approval by default.
- Customers can allow purchases within a spending limit. Walmart's examples are $50, $100, and $200.
- Walmart may still require approval inside a limit.
- Permissions can be turned off, and a profile deleted, at any time.
- Agents never receive card details and cannot add or change payment methods.
- Walmart's returns process applies, including when an agent does not act as intended.
- No Walmart+ membership is needed, according to TechCrunch.
On pricing, Walmart says agents see the same prices a person sees on Walmart.com: "We price products, not people."
Walmart and Amazon Compared
| Walmart | Amazon | |
|---|---|---|
| Outside agents | Invited in on stated terms | Blocked, including Meta Muse |
| Own agents | Not covered in this announcement | Alexa for Shopping, Buy for Me |
| Bet | Be where the agent shops | Keep the customer relationship on Amazon |
What It Means for Marketplace Sellers
When an agent shops through a gateway, ads and page layout carry less weight than structured data such as title, attributes, price, stock, and reviews. Walmart has not said how the Gateway ranks results or whether sponsored items appear, so that is the question for sellers to watch. Cleaning up catalog data is sensible either way.
What Is Unclear
Walmart has not explained how it will detect agents that break its terms, beyond saying they will be blocked. It has not published a list of approved agents. TechCrunch names Muse among its partners and mentions integrations with ChatGPT and Gemini. Gateway access is a beta, and its terms may change.
Methodology
Details come from Walmart's announcement and TechCrunch. The seller section is our analysis. Status as of October 31, 2026.
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