Walmart welcomes AI agents as Anthropic launches its own » Borneo Bulletin Online

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – On Wednesday, US retail giant Walmart announced new tools that let AI agents, such as Meta’s Muse, shop for customers. This is the opposite of what rival Amazon does, as Amazon blocks AI agents made by other companies from shopping on its platform.

AI agents are computer programs that can carry out several steps of a task for someone. For example, they can search for products, compare prices and complete a purchase. Unlike chatbots, which mainly answer questions, these agents can take action for users.

Technology companies including OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and Meta are investing heavily in AI agents. Many people in the industry see them as the next stage of the AI boom that began after ChatGPT launched in late 2022.

On Wednesday, Anthropic released a preview of Claude Duet, an AI agent that works in the background across apps connected to a user's account. It can also buy things online after the user gives permission.

Its main rival, OpenAI, launched its own agents, called Dots, last month. These agents can keep running in the background all the time.

Meta launched Muse in September. The tool is available only in the United States and Canada. According to an analysis of data from outside sources by Sensor Tower, Muse has been downloaded more than 10 million times.

Walmart said it would launch “Agent Profiles” within the next month. These profiles will let customers register each AI assistant they use separately in their Walmart account. Purchases made by an AI agent will appear separately from purchases made by the customer.

Customers will be able to choose whether they must approve every purchase or allow an agent to buy things on its own up to a spending limit they set. For example, they could set a limit of $50, $100 or $200. Customers can also delete an agent's profile at any time.

Walmart compared this system to adding an authorized user to a credit card.

Amazon, the largest online retailer in the United States, has taken a stricter approach. It blocks shopping agents made by other companies while promoting its own AI tools, including Alexa for Shopping and its Buy for Me feature.

Last month, Amazon blocked Muse from its website. Users saw a message saying that AI agents without permission break Amazon’s terms of use.

In November 2025, Amazon sued Perplexity. It accused the startup of secretly using its Comet browser agent to make purchases on Amazon's marketplace. Amazon has also taken steps to limit the use of AI agents from Google and OpenAI.