亚马逊封禁 AI Agent，沃尔玛却主动“铺开红地毯”全面拥抱智能体电商

沃尔玛周三宣布，正在通过推出自主研发的 Agent Gateway（智能体网关）以管理交易，并上线针对使用 AI Agent（人工智能智能体）用户的多项新功能，全面拥抱智能体商务（agentic commerce）。此举正值沃尔玛的主要竞争对手亚马逊开始封锁 AI Agent代表网购者进行采购不久之后。

该公司对 AI 技术的拥抱，使其与众多在线平台区别开来——不仅是亚马逊，还包括各类旅游和预订网站，后者针对消费者日益普及使用 AI Agent 的现象，采取了将其彻底拒之门外的做法。相比之下，沃尔玛此前已经宣布与该领域的领先 Agent——Meta 的 Muse 建立合作，并提供与 ChatGPT、Gemini 等主流 AI 应用的集成支持。

沃尔玛总裁兼首席执行官约翰·弗纳（John Furner）周三在旧金山举行的 Masters of Scale 峰会上表示，如今，公司正通过引入更多技术来拓展这些成果，为 AI Agent 成为主流的世界做好准备。该技术将同时支持在沃尔玛以及旗下仓储式会员店山姆会员店（Sam's Club）进行智能体购物。

这一计划始于沃尔玛的 Agent Gateway，即该公司新推出的 MCP 服务器。它旨在帮助经批准的 Agent 通过模型上下文协议（Model Context Protocol，简称 MCP）连接到沃尔玛。该协议最初由 Anthropic 创建，允许 AI Agent 连接外部数据源、工具和其他工作流。在此场景下，它让 AI Agent 能够搜索沃尔玛的线上库存，并代表 Agent 用户完成采购。

更重要的是，这家零售巨头表示，其 Agent Gateway 能够协助顾客购买他们常买的品牌或商品，而无需直接将个人信息或购买历史共享给 Agent。

沃尔玛还开发了新技术，将 Agent 发起的采购与顾客直接发起的采购区分开来，并让购物者能够更好地控制其 Agent 的权限范围。

通过将于下月推出的“Agent Profiles（智能体配置文件）”，顾客将可以在其账户中为所使用的每个 AI Agent 授权一个专属配置文件，从而将 Agent 的购物记录与自己的消费记录分开查看。此外，顾客还可以自行决定交易的审批方式：既可以要求对每笔交易进行逐一审批，也可以授权在设定的消费限额内自动完成交易。

沃尔玛表示，这些管控机制类似于在信用卡上添加附属卡授权用户——你可以清晰识别其交易，并能为其设定消费上限。

沃尔玛指出，当用户首次使用特定 Agent 通过沃尔玛 Agent Gateway 购物时，系统就会创建对应的 Agent Profile。开始使用时，用户只需授权并将该 Agent Profile 绑定至沃尔玛账户，随后设置风控权限或消费限额即可。用户还可以随时删除 Agent Profile。所有拥有沃尔玛账户的用户均可使用 Agent 支持服务，无需开通 Walmart+ 会员。

除上述技术外，沃尔玛还针对 AI Agent 推出了专门的“条款”，规定了它们必须如何运行以及在其网站上进行交易的权限。值得注意的是，沃尔玛表示其现有的退货流程同样适用，包括当 Agent 未按预期执行操作时的情况。对于那些担心尝鲜智能体商务的用户而言，这是一项非常友好的保障，他们无需担忧因为 Agent 的操作失误而被迫为不想要的商品买单。

沃尔玛还强调，Agent 不得采取超出购物者意图的任何操作，无法访问顾客的支付信息，且只能访问完成指定任务所需的信息。未能遵守相关条款的 Agent 将被禁止访问沃尔玛网站。

Walmart is embracing agentic commerce with the launch of its own Agent Gateway to manage transactions and other new features aimed at customers using AI agents, the retailer announced on Wednesday. The move comes shortly after Walmart’s top competitor, Amazon, began blocking AI agents from making purchases on behalf of online shoppers.

The company’s embrace of AI technology differentiates it from other online businesses, including not only Amazon but also various travel and booking sites, which have responded to the growing consumer adoption of AI agents by locking them out of their websites completely. Walmart, on the other hand, had already announced a partnership with a leading agent in the space, Meta’s Muse, and offers integrations with popular AI apps like ChatGPT, Gemini, and others.

Now, it’s expanding on those efforts with more technology to prepare for a world where AI agents become mainstream, said Walmart President and CEO John Furner, speaking at the Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco on Wednesday. The technology will support agentic shopping from both Walmart and the company’s discount warehouse, Sam’s Club.

It starts with Walmart’s Agent Gateway, the company’s new MCP server, which is designed to help approved agents connect to Walmart over the model context protocol (MCP). The protocol, originally created by Anthropic, allows AI agents to connect to external data sources, tools, and other workflows. In this case, it lets an AI agent search across Walmart’s online inventory and make purchases on behalf of the agent’s user.

What’s more, the retailer says that its Agent Gateway will be able to help customers shop for their usual brands or items without having to share their personal information or purchase history directly with the agent.

The company has also developed new technology to differentiate an agent’s purchases from those initiated directly by the customer, and to give shoppers more control over what their agents can and cannot do.

With Agent Profiles, rolling out next month, customers will be able to authorize each AI agent they use with a dedicated profile in their account, allowing them to see the agent’s purchases separately from their own. Plus, customers will be in control of how purchases get approved by either requiring approval for each transaction or by authorizing transactions within a certain spending limit they set.

The retailer says these controls are similar to adding someone as an authorized user on your credit card, where their transactions are identified, and you can cap their spending.

The Agent Profiles will be created the first time you use a given agent to shop through the Walmart Agent Gateway, the company notes. To get started, you’ll authorize and link the Agent Profile to your Walmart account, then set your controls or spending limits. You can also delete an Agent Profile at any time. Agent support is available for anyone with a Walmart account; a Walmart+ membership is not necessary.

Alongside these technologies, Walmart is introducing special “terms” for AI agents, which specify how they must operate and what rights they have to transact on its site. Of note, Walmart says that its returns process applies, including when an agent doesn’t act as intended. That’s a customer-friendly condition that could sway consumers who were worried about being an early tester of agentic commerce, as they won’t fear ending up with products they don’t want because of a misbehaving agent.

Walmart also says that agents can’t take actions beyond what the shopper intends, can’t access the customers’ payment information, and can only access the information they need for the given task. Agents that don’t comply with the terms will be blocked from accessing Walmart’s site.