Walmart rolls out AI agent shopping features while Amazon tries to curb the tech

What happened: Walmart rolled out two tools for third-party AI agents shopping on customers' behalf: agent profiles, which link transactions to the bot and let customers manage authorizations and spending limits, and an agent gateway that gives bots access through a text protocol instead of the human website. Key numbers: No specific figures were provided. Why it matters: The move contrasts with Amazon, which blocked Meta's agent Muse from its site and has pushed back on other third-party agents, including a lawsuit against Perplexity and restrictions on agents from Google and OpenAI.

Walmart rolled out two tools for third-party AI agents shopping on customers' behalf: agent profiles, which link transactions to the bot and let customers manage authorizations and spending limits, and an agent gateway that gives bots access through a text protocol instead of the human website.

The move contrasts with Amazon, which blocked Meta's agent Muse from its site and has pushed back on other third-party agents, including a lawsuit against Perplexity and restrictions on agents from Google and OpenAI.