Walmart will let you set spending limits for AI shopping helpers

Walmart is adding controls for shoppers who let AI helpers, often called agents, buy things for them. The company announced the changes on Wednesday, Oct. 21. They apply to Walmart and Sam's Club. The main feature, called Agent Profiles, is due within the next month. It lets you set a spending limit and tell the AI's orders apart from your own.

What changed

Right now, anything an AI agent buys shows up in your Walmart account mixed in with your own orders. There is no way to tell them apart. Under the new setup, agents shop through their own profile linked to your account. Walmart's Daniel Danker said this lets customers approve purchases, set spending limits and see which purchases an agent made.

How the limits work

By default, you must approve every purchase an agent makes. If you would rather not tap approve each time, you can let the agent spend up to a preset limit, such as $50, $100 or $200. Walmart said it could still ask for extra approval even within those limits.

Walmart's new rules also set boundaries for agents:

• Agents cannot act beyond your instructions.
• They cannot access information they are not authorized to see.
• They cannot receive your payment card details.
• They cannot add or change payment methods.

Agents will see the same prices a person would, with offers and fees shown before purchase. If an agent makes a purchase you did not intend, Walmart's existing returns process applies. Agents that break the rules will be blocked from the site.

What stays private

There is one catch. Anything you share directly with an outside AI app is covered by that app's own privacy policy, not Walmart's. Walmart is also building an Agent Gateway, a faster, more direct way for AI systems to shop with it. Walmart said it could help an agent find your usual brand of milk or bread without sharing your broader shopping history.

Why Walmart is doing this

Shoppers are cautious. In an August survey of 1,000 U.S. adults by payments company NMI, only 11% said they had used AI to complete a purchase. About 70% wanted to review or override an AI decision before checkout. Only 10% would give AI full control.

What is not known yet

Walmart has not said which AI agents will support the new profiles at launch. Its current AI shopping efforts include its own Sparky agent and links with Meta's Muse, ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. The Agent Gateway will start in a limited beta for companies and developers, with no date or participants announced. Walmart is also working with marketplace sellers so their listings are easier for AI shopping tools to read.