Walmart and OpenAI Partner for ChatGPT Shopping Integration

You'll soon be able to shop Walmart from ChatGPT | TechCrunch

Walmart announced on Tuesday a new partnership with OpenAI that will allow consumers to shop Walmart's products via the AI chatbot, including things like groceries (not fresh food), household essentials, and more, and then instantly check out. The agentic shopping feature will also allow Sam's Club members to plan meals and restock essentials while also discovering new items when chatting with the AI, the company says. To use the feature, customers will press a "buy" button in ChatGPT's app when they shop, after linking their Walmart accounts to ChatGPT. Products from third-party sellers will also be supported when the feature rolls out later this fall. Walmart explains that the new agreement with OpenAI will allow the retailer to better learn and predict customers' needs, making online shopping more personalized and proactive, instead of only reactive. The partnership follows OpenAI's recent announcement of its plan to enter the world of e-commerce with an agentic shopping system, which includes product discovery, recommendation, and payments. Initially, OpenAI is teaming up with Etsy and Shopify sellers, the company said. The ChatGPT-focused shopping feature won't be the only way consumers can shop with AI. Alongside other AI investments, Walmart recently introduced its own generative AI shopping assistant, Sparky, designed to help customers discover and compare products and make purchases. The feature will expand to include reordering, service booking, and understanding multimodal inputs from text, images, audio, and video. The retailer has an existing relationship with OpenAI in other areas of its business, as well, having adopted OpenAI Certifications and ChatGPT Enterprise for its internal teams. Both Walmart and Sam's Club broadly use AI to do other things, like speeding up fashion production by up to 18 weeks and improving customer care timeframes by up to 40%. "For many years now, e-commerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses. That is about to change," noted Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon in a prepared statement. "There is a native AI experience coming that is multimedia, personalized, and contextual. We are running towards that more enjoyable and convenient future with Sparky and through partnerships, including this important step with OpenAI," he added.

You'll Soon Be Able to Shop Walmart Products Through ChatGPT

OpenAI and Walmart will soon offer shopping via AI through ChatGPT, the retail giant said in a press release on Tuesday. While using ChatGPT's Instant Checkout feature, customers can buy groceries, electronics or other essentials within the chatbot interface. Walmart has its own AI assistant in its app named Sparky. With Sparky, customers can ask questions about products and get summaries of reviews to find the best item. Don't miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source. "For many years now, e-commerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses. That is about to change," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement. "There is a native AI experience coming that is multi-media, personalized and contextual. We are running towards that more enjoyable and convenient future with Sparky and through partnerships including this important step with OpenAI." When asked for comment, Walmart referred to its press release. Walmart also said it wouldn't discuss the financial terms of the agreement at this time. "We're excited to partner with Walmart to make everyday purchases a little simpler. It's just one way AI will help people every day under our work together," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a press release. OpenAI referred to Walmart's press release when asked for comment. The latest deal with Walmart comes as OpenAI tries to make ChatGPT an all-in-one shopping experience. AI chatbots are increasingly being used as vehicles for online shopping. They can synthesize reviews from across the internet and give people direct answers to shopping questions. Already, ChatGPT connects with Etsy and Shopify with its Instant Checkout feature, allowing people to buy directly. OpenAI also added more shopping features in ChatGPT Search earlier this year. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

You Can Soon Shop Walmart Inside ChatGPT. Will That Help It Compete With Amazon?

Emily is an experienced reporter who covers cutting-edge tech, from AI and EVs to brain implants. She stays grounded by hiking and playing guitar. Walmart's new partnership with OpenAI will allow its customers to shop through ChatGPT. They can ask the chatbot to recommend things like "Christmas gifts for my dog-obsessed cousin," and it will return a personalized selection of products. "For many years now, e-commerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses," says Doug McMillon, Walmart president and CEO. "That is about to change." Notably, ChatGPT will not direct the user to the Walmart website. Instead, you can purchase the product from within the chat through OpenAI's new Instant Checkout technology. McMillon calls it a "native AI experience...[and a] more enjoyable and convenient future." He also mentions "personalization," which would likely require the trove of data OpenAI can offer on its users. Walmart is the largest retailer in the US, primarily due to its extensive network of brick-and-mortar stores. It trails Amazon by a significant margin in online shopping, so perhaps it's willing to forego its own website in pursuit of a new revenue stream through ChatGPT, currently the fourth most-visited website in the world (Amazon is No. 13). Walmart's stock jumped nearly 5% after the announcement. Walmart calls the AI-based experience a shopping "transformation," toward a world where AI "learns, plans and predicts, helping customers anticipate their needs before they do." It calls this "agentic" commerce, or where the tech basically shops for you, presenting options it thinks you'll like -- an algorithm on steroids. The retailer debuted its own Sparky AI shopping assistant in June. In the announcement, Walmart also talked about its efforts to AI-ify Sam's Club, the bulk retailer it also owns. Last year, Sam's Club tested replacing humans with AI receipt checkers at the doors. "Today, Walmart and Sam's Club leverage AI across every part of the business," Walmart says. Sam's Club is not included in today's ChatGPT announcement. OpenAI is in the process of baking more websites directly into ChatGPT. At its annual DevDay event last week, it announced a similar partnership with Spotify, Zillow, and Booking.com, among other sites. You can ask the chatbot to pull up "Homes under $900,000 with four bedrooms," for example, rather than browsing Zillow. "What you're going to see over the next six months is an evolution of ChatGPT from an app that is really, really useful to something that'll be a bit more like an operating system, where you can access different services, you can access software," OpenAI's head of ChatGPT, Nick Turley, said during a Q&A with the press during DevDay.

Walmart partners with OpenAI for ChatGPT shopping feature

Oct 14 (Reuters) - Walmart (WMT.N), opens new tab said on Tuesday it was partnering with OpenAI to enable customers and Sam's Club members to shop directly within ChatGPT, using the AI chatbot's Instant Checkout feature. The world's largest retailer is expanding its use of artificial intelligence as companies across sectors adopt the technology to simplify tasks and cut costs. Walmart has announced AI tools including generative AI-powered 'Sparky,' which is available on its app to assist customers with product suggestions or summarizing product reviews, among other options. The company's growing investment in AI is also aimed at closing the gap with online behemoth Amazon, which had a head start with its chatbot, Rufus, a Gen AI-powered shopping assistant that answers various shopping queries. Walmart's tie-up with the ChatGPT-maker follows a similar partnership OpenAI announced last month with Etsy and Shopify (SHOP.TO), opens new tab. About 15% of total referral traffic for Walmart in September was from ChatGPT, up from 9.5% in August, data from SimilarWeb showed. However, referrals are only a minor source of traffic and ChatGPT referrals accounted for less than 1% of total web traffic for Walmart, the research firm said. Walmart shares were up about 5% on Tuesday. Reporting by Sanskriti Shekhar and Neil J Kanatt in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Shreya Biswas Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Walmart teams up with OpenAI to allow purchases directly in ChatGPT

With the move, the world's largest retailer and top U.S. grocer is trying to keep up with changes in how consumers discover items to buy. Along with purchasing items they see on social media or products recommended by retailers, shoppers are increasingly going to ChatGPT or similar AI chatbots for gift ideas or help finding the best deals. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a news release. "That is about to change." He said the AI feature will be "multi-media, personalized and contextual," adding that Walmart is "running towards that more enjoyable and convenient future." The company did not say when shoppers would be able to start buying Walmart items on ChatGPT. In late September, OpenAI announced the Instant Checkout feature that will allow shoppers to buy items through Walmart, and said it would initially support purchases from Etsy sellers. OpenAI said at the time that more than one million Shopify merchants, including Skims and Glossier, would be coming soon. The Instant Checkout feature is a new moneymaker for OpenAI. Walmart did not disclose any financial terms of the deal, but OpenAI has previously said it will charge companies a fee for transactions completed through ChatGPT. -- CNBC's Ashley Capoot contributed to this report.

OpenAI partners with Walmart to let users buy products in ChatGPT, furthering chatbot shopping push

NEW YORK (AP) -- OpenAI is partnering with Walmart to let shoppers make purchases directly within ChatGPT, furthering the artificial intelligence company's push to turn its chatbot into a virtual merchant as it seeks to boost revenue. In an Tuesday announcement, Walmart said the new offering will give customers the option to "simply chat and buy." That means the retailer's products would be available through instant checkout in ChatGPT -- allowing users to buy anything from meal ingredients or household items, to other goods they might be discussing with the chatbot. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a prepared statement. "That is about to change." Sam Altman, cofounder and CEO of OpenAI, added that the partnership would "make everyday purchases a little simpler." The companies didn't immediately specify when ChatGPT users would be able to start purchasing Walmart products within the platform. Tuesday's announcement from Walmart just noted that the offering would be available "soon." But the partnership marks OpenAI's latest expansion into online commerce. The company has recently launched similar offerings for Shopify and Etsy sellers. Teaming up with Walmart -- the nation's largest retailer -- marks an even more sizeable leap for OpenAI in this space. And competing with the likes of Amazon and Google for purchase fees from digital shopping could be a new source of money for the company. OpenAI hasn't made a profit and has relied on investors to back the costs of building and running its powerful AI systems. When announcing its Etsy and Shopify partnerships last month, OpenAI said it worked with payments company Stripe on the technical standards to enable purchases through its "Instant Checkout" system. Separately, Walmart has worked to boost its own integration of AI across operations and its consumer-facing offerings in recent years. On Tuesday, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company pointed to its AI shopping assistant named Sparky -- as well as other uses of AI technology in product catalogues and customer care for both Walmart and Sam's Club. Members of Sam's Club, which is owned by Walmart, will also be able to shop through the coming ChatGPT offering. Shares of Walmart were up more than 5% by Tuesday afternoon trading.

You'll soon be able to shop at Walmart directly through ChatGPT

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. The takeaway: OpenAI rolled out the ability to use third-party apps in ChatGPT just last week, launching with a handful of partners including Spotify, Expedia, and Zillow. The integration has the potential to reshape how the public interacts with AI-based chatbots, and the impact could grow even further following the latest partnership announcement. Walmart has teamed up with OpenAI and will soon allow customers to shop their store using ChatGPT and its new instant checkout feature. Announced at the end of September, instant checkout is built with Stripe and leverages the agentic commerce protocol to help people make purchases with ChatGPT. Early partners for instant checkout include Etsy and Shopify. Walmart already uses AI across multiple parts of its business. This past spring, the company announced an AI assistant called Sparky to help shoppers with a variety of tasks in the Walmart app. The ChatGPT integration, however, could have an even bigger impact on how customers shop. According to the big box retailer, the AI-first shopping experience aims to be proactive rather than reactive - that is, it will learn customers' habits and use that data to plan and predict what a buyer may need next even before they realize it. Walmart's announcement was light on details. The company did not say when the new shopping experience would go live, if it would launch for everyone all at once or via a staggered rollout, or what regions might have access to it first. Neither Walmart nor OpenAI shared financial terms of the partnership. Presumably, OpenAI would receive a percentage of sales made through ChatGPT which could go a long way in helping the startup become profitable. As CNBC highlights, consumers are increasingly relying on AI-based tools like ChatGPT for gift ideas and to help find deals. For many, being able to shop and complete a purchase using a chatbot feels like the next logical step in the progression of artificial intelligence as a tool to help make daily life a bit easier.

Walmart partners with OpenAI to bring AI-powered shopping to ChatGPT

Walmart is turning to artificial intelligence to change the way we shop online. In a newly announced partnership with OpenAI, the retail giant is bringing its full product catalog to ChatGPT, letting customers browse, plan and purchase through natural conversation, complete with an Instant Checkout feature. This move means you'll soon be able to ask ChatGPT something like "Help me plan dinner for the week" or "Restock my cleaning supplies," and it will not only recommend products from Walmart, but also help you buy them on the spot. No more scrolling through endless search results -- just chat and go. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses," said Walmart CEO Doug McMillon. "That's about to change. There is a native AI experience coming that is multi-media, personalized and contextual." This is part of a broader shift Walmart is calling agentic commerce -- where AI evolves from a passive tool to a proactive assistant. Instead of waiting for you to ask, it can anticipate needs, offer suggestions and make your shopping experience feel a lot more intuitive. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the partnership is about making everyday tasks easier. "We're excited to work with Walmart to simplify daily shopping. It's just one of the ways AI will become part of people's everyday lives." Walmart isn't new to AI. The company already uses it behind the scenes to speed up everything from fashion production (cutting timelines by 18 weeks) to customer service (reducing resolution times by up to 40%). It's also rolling out ChatGPT Enterprise internally and offering OpenAI Certifications to its workforce -- part of an effort to boost AI literacy among its employees. But Walmart is quick to clarify that this isn't about replacing human workers. Instead, the company says it's focused on using AI to remove friction, not connection, making everyday tasks simpler, smarter and more convenient. With this partnership, Walmart is doubling down on its promise to combine low prices, fast delivery, and now, smart AI to redefine what shopping looks like in the AI era.

Walmart and OpenAI team up for AI-powered shopping in ChatGPT

Why it matters: The world's largest retailer's new OpenAI partnership signals the arrival of "agentic commerce" -- where AI doesn't just answer questions but anticipates what shoppers need next. Driving the news: Walmart says it's moving from static search bars to multimedia, contextual experiences, powered by its in-house tech and OpenAI. * Shoppers will prompt ChatGPT (for instance, "plan a weeknight taco dinner" or "reorder my staples"), get curated picks and checkout in one step. What's next: Walmart says a ChatGPT + Instant Checkout experience is "coming soon." Editor's note: This story is developing and will be updated.

Walmart and OpenAI are partnering to redraw the retail map

"Add to cart" is getting conversational. Walmart and OpenAI are attempting to turn ChatGPT into a shopping destination, where users can stock up on groceries, find recipes, or plan a week's worth of dinners without ever leaving the chat. The integration, which connects the chatbot to Walmart and Sam's Club for instant checkout, marks the retailer's most literal leap yet into what it calls "agentic commerce" -- a world where the checkout line is a sentence in a chat window. The announcement sent Walmart stock up around 3% on Tuesday morning, signaling that investors may see the chatbot checkout as more than a marketing play. This partnership is the second major OpenAI tie-in for Walmart this year, following its rollout of "Sparky," an internal assistant used by 50,000 corporate employees. The $648 billion retailer has spent years trying to shrink the gap between inspiration and transaction, from one-click grocery delivery to voice-activated reorders. Every major retailer is chasing the same thing: ownership of the intent layer, the moment a purchase idea forms. Amazon still dominates search-based buying, but ChatGPT's conversational reach opens a new front: discovery that skips the browsing phase altogether and folds Walmart into the conversation. Tell ChatGPT you're out of cereal or need a low-effort dinner, and the bot can surface meal ideas, pull ingredients from Walmart, build a cart, and process the order -- no app, no search bar, and apparently, little to no friction. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon framed the deal as a shift away from the search-bar era, saying there's "a native AI experience coming that is multi-media, personalized and contextual." "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses," McMillon said. "That is about to change." The next retail frontier is interface, not inventory. Whoever controls the prompt controls the purchase. ChatGPT's reach gives Walmart a new discovery engine -- and gives OpenAI a consumer use case that's both tangible and transactional: not just answering questions, but moving product. If that formula works, the search bar becomes the latest casualty of generative AI's creep into everyday behavior. OpenAI has been on a tear lately -- less a startup than an infrastructure company in disguise. In the past few months, it's inked a 6-gigawatt GPU pact with AMD, deepened its supply chain ties with Nvidia and Broadcom, and expanded its Microsoft alliance into custom silicon. Plugging Walmart into that flow gives OpenAI what every Silicon Valley platform has chased for decades: a direct line between conversation and conversion. The Walmart tie-in, along with OpenAI's recent partnerships with Etsy and Shopify, points to a wider company strategy: embedding ChatGPT wherever commercial intent lives, from indie marketplaces to retail giants. The partnership has no firm launch date, unclear data rules, and presumably plenty of consumer hesitation about letting an AI fill the pantry. But directionally, it's obvious where this is headed. The world's largest retailer just made small talk its next sales channel -- and maybe its most profitable one yet.

Walmart partners with ChatGPT to help you chat your way to checkout

What's happened? Walmart has partnered with OpenAI to bring a conversational shopping experience to ChatGPT users. The upcoming feature will allow users to browse and buy products from Walmart and Sam's Club directly within the chatbot. The retail experience will be powered by ChatGPT's new Instant Checkout feature, which was announced late last month. It will show users a "Buy" button next to eligible products in shopping-related chats, enabling seamless checkouts mid-conversation. Bloomberg reports that the feature will go live this fall, with the catalog including apparel, entertainment, packaged food, and more from Walmart and Sam's Club. According to Walmart, the ChatGPT integration is part of its "agentic commerce" push to utilize AI to anticipate and plan customer purchases. Why is this important? Many users already rely on AI chatbots for product comparisons and shopping recommendations. This integration could help Walmart turn those recommendations into purchases, making shopping faster, smarter, and more intuitive through ChatGPT. This move could bring conversational shopping into the mainstream and change the way people discover and purchase products online. It could also leverage ChatGPT's memory features to offer personalized and predictive shopping recommendations. Similar agentic capabilities are also available within Perplexity's Comet browser, though OpenAI offers its own Operator agent, as well. Recommended Videos Why should I care? For Walmart shoppers already using ChatGPT for product research, this integration could make the journey from search to checkout much more seamless. Walmart says the feature will make restocking essentials, planning meals, or shopping for gifts as simple as having a conversation, while eliminating the need to switch apps or scroll through endless product listings. Personalized and predictive shopping recommendations in ChatGPT could potentially save you time and effort. What's next? Walmart has yet to give us a demo of the ChatGPT integration. Its success will hinge on how smoothly it handles recommendations, orders, and payments. It remains to be seen whether the partnership will influence ChatGPT's product recommendations, potentially favoring Walmart and Sam's Club offerings over other retailers. Research already indicates that ChatGPT and Google's AI often disagree on brand recommendations for the same queries, and the Walmart partnership could further impact how products are recommended within the new shopping experience.

OpenAI partners with Walmart to let users buy products in ChatGPT, furthering chatbot shopping push

OpenAI is partnering with Walmart to let shoppers make purchases directly within ChatGPT, furthering the artificial intelligence company's push to turn its chatbot into a virtual merchant as it seeks to boost revenue. In an Tuesday announcement, Walmart said the new offering will give customers the option to "simply chat and buy." That means the retailer's products would be available through instant checkout in ChatGPT -- allowing users to buy anything from meal ingredients or household items, to other goods they might be discussing with the chatbot. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a prepared statement. "That is about to change." Sam Altman, cofounder and CEO of OpenAI, added that the partnership would "make everyday purchases a little simpler." The companies didn't immediately specify when ChatGPT users would be able to start purchasing Walmart products within the platform. Tuesday's announcement from Walmart just noted that the offering would be available "soon." But the partnership marks OpenAI's latest expansion into online commerce. The company has recently launched similar offerings for Shopify and Etsy sellers. Teaming up with Walmart -- the nation's largest retailer -- marks an even more sizeable leap for OpenAI in this space. And competing with the likes of Amazon and Google for purchase fees from digital shopping could be a new source of money for the company. OpenAI hasn't made a profit and has relied on investors to back the costs of building and running its powerful AI systems. When announcing its Etsy and Shopify partnerships last month, OpenAI said it worked with payments company Stripe on the technical standards to enable purchases through its "Instant Checkout" system. Separately, Walmart has worked to boost its own integration of AI across operations and its consumer-facing offerings in recent years. On Tuesday, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company pointed to its AI shopping assistant named Sparky -- as well as other uses of AI technology at both Walmart and Sam's Club. Members of Sam's Club, which is owned by Walmart, will be able to shop through the coming ChatGPT offering, too -- and Walmart boosted its promotion of "AI literacy" for its employees. "AI is transforming everything we do, from smarter catalogs to faster delivery, and it only works if people trust it," Daniel Danker, executive vice president of AI Acceleration, Product and Design at Walmart said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. Shares of Walmart were up more than 5% by Tuesday afternoon trading.

Walmart says customers will soon be able to use ChatGPT to shop

A Walmart store in Alexandria, Va., in 2024.Ting Shen / Bloomberg via Getty Images file The nation's largest retailer announced a new partnership Tuesday with OpenAI, aimed at helping shoppers make purchases using the tech startup's chatbot app. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses. That is about to change," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement. The OpenAI announcement is part of a broader push by Walmart, the biggest private employer in the U.S., to incorporate AI into its daily operations. It was unclear Tuesday what the terms of the Walmart-AI partnership would be. The Walmart collaboration is the latest in a flurry of new deals for OpenAI, which has announced long-term partnerships in recent weeks with several of the biggest AI and chip companies. "We're excited to partner with Walmart to make everyday purchases a little simpler. It's just one way AI will help people every day under our work together," Sam Altman, the co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, said in a statement. The partnership could also serve OpenAI by introducing ChatGPT to a massive set of consumers who may not be as accustomed to using AI chats in their shopping as OpenAI's core user base. "There is a native AI experience coming that is multi-media, personalized and contextual," said McMillon.

Walmart partners with OpenAI so shoppers can buy things directly in ChatGPT

Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting. Walmart is partnering with OpenAI to give shoppers a new feature that lets them complete purchases using ChatGPT, as the retailer invests in artificial intelligence to improve operations. Using ChatGPT's new "Instant Checkout" feature, shoppers in conversation with the AI-powered bot will be able to browse Walmart's offerings through ChatGPT, and complete purchases from within the app ChatGPT first announced "Instant Checkout" last month. The shopping feature lets users query ChatGPT for things like "best mattress under $1,000" or "gift for an avid reader," and buy suggested products from within the chat, without having to navigate outside the app. With the Walmart partnership, the AI-driven shopping experience "allows customers and Sam's Club members to plan meals, restock essentials, or discover new products simply by chatting -- Walmart will take care of the rest," the retail giant said Tuesday. Walmart touts the move as a push past traditional e-commerce search tools that retrieve products solely based on consumers requests. "AI will learn and predict customers' needs, turning shopping from a reactive experience into a proactive one -- what Walmart calls agentic commerce," the company said Tuesday. Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon said the consumer-facing enhancement is long overdue. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses. That is about to change ... We are running towards that more enjoyable and convenient future with Sparky and through partnerships including this important step with OpenAI," he said in a statement Tuesday. Sparky is Walmart's generative AI-powered shopping assistant, designed to deliver more conversational and personalized shopping assistance. Sam Altman, cofounder and CEO of OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, touted the partnership with Walmart as one that makes "everyday purchases a little simpler." E-commerce giant Amazon is also making a foray into the world of so-called agentic AI, in which bots replace humans. Through its "Buy for Me" feature in the Amazon Shopping App, shoppers can buy goods from vendors selling products that aren't available on Amazon.com without leaving the Amazon ecosystem. "If a customer decides to proceed with a Buy for Me purchase, they tap on the Buy for Me button on the product detail page to request Amazon make the purchase from the brand retailer's website on their behalf," Amazon explains on its corporate website. "Customers are taken to an Amazon checkout page where they confirm order details, including preferred delivery address, applicable taxes and shipping fees, and payment method."

Walmart Partners with OpenAI to Bring ChatGPT to Shopping | AIM

The new features include the generative AI tool 'Sparky' available in the Walmart app, which offers personalised product recommendations. Walmart has announced a new partnership with OpenAI that will soon allow customers to shop at Walmart through ChatGPT using Instant Checkout. This will help them plan meals, restock household essentials, and more through 'chat and buy'. Walmart has introduced AI tools, featuring the generative AI-powered 'Sparky,' which can be accessed through its app to help customers with product recommendations and summarising product reviews, among other features. The company's increasing investment in AI is also focused on narrowing the gap with the online giant Amazon, which had an early advantage with its chatbot, Rufus, a GenAI-powered shopping assistant that responds to various shopping inquiries. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses...There is a native AI experience coming that is multi-media, personalised and contextual," said Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart, in a statement. "We are running towards that more enjoyable and convenient future with Sparky and through partnerships, including this important step with OpenAI," he added. Last October, Walmart announced its AI, AR, and immersive shopping plans, including the launch of Wallaby in March 2025, a suite of retail-focused LLMs designed to improve customer interactions. Using decades of Walmart data, Wallaby integrates with other LLMs for customised responses. Additionally, Walmart is equipping its associates with AI tools and training to promote AI literacy. It is one of the first retail companies to adopt OpenAI Certifications and implement ChatGPT Enterprise across the company. Walmart's collaboration with ChatGPT follows OpenAI's partnership announcements with Etsy and Shopify in September. According to SimilarWeb data cited by Reuters, approximately 15% of Walmart's total referral traffic in September originated from ChatGPT, an increase from 9.5% in August. Nonetheless, according to the research firm, referrals represent only a small portion of traffic, with ChatGPT referrals making up less than 1% of Walmart's overall web traffic.

Walmart and Sam's Club will let you shop directly with ChatGPT as retail giant announces deal with OpenAI

America's largest brick-and-mortar retailer is partnering with the country's most prominent AI firm in the clearest signal yet that companies are hoping to boost their sales with artificial intelligence-assisted shopping tools. Today, Walmart and OpenAI announced a new partnership that will allow ChatGPT users to buy Walmart products directly from within the chatbot itself. Here's what you need to know about the news, and how Walmart's stock price is reacting. Today, retail giant Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) announced a major new deal with ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The deal will see the artificial intelligence firm's chatbot gain the ability to make purchases through Walmart and Sam's Club on a customer's and member's behalf.

OpenAI partners with Walmart to let users buy products in ChatGPT

NEW YORK -- NEW YORK (AP) -- OpenAI is partnering with Walmart to let shoppers make purchases directly within ChatGPT, furthering the artificial intelligence company's push to turn its chatbot into a virtual merchant as it seeks to boost revenue. In an Tuesday announcement, Walmart said the new offering will give customers the option to "simply chat and buy." That means the retailer's products would be available through instant checkout in ChatGPT -- allowing users to buy anything from meal ingredients or household items, to other goods they might be discussing with the chatbot. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a prepared statement. "That is about to change." Sam Altman, cofounder and CEO of OpenAI, added that the partnership would "make everyday purchases a little simpler." The companies didn't immediately specify when ChatGPT users would be able to start purchasing Walmart products within the platform. Tuesday's announcement from Walmart just noted that the offering would be available "soon." But the partnership marks OpenAI's latest expansion into online commerce. The company has recently launched similar offerings for Shopify and Etsy sellers. Teaming up with Walmart -- the nation's largest retailer -- marks an even more sizeable leap for OpenAI in this space. And competing with the likes of Amazon and Google for purchase fees from digital shopping could be a new source of money for the company. OpenAI hasn't made a profit and has relied on investors to back the costs of building and running its powerful AI systems. When announcing its Etsy and Shopify partnerships last month, OpenAI said it worked with payments company Stripe on the technical standards to enable purchases through its "Instant Checkout" system. Separately, Walmart has worked to boost its own integration of AI across operations and its consumer-facing offerings in recent years. On Tuesday, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company pointed to its AI shopping assistant named Sparky -- as well as other uses of AI technology in product catalogues and customer care for both Walmart and Sam's Club. Members of Sam's Club, which is owned by Walmart, will also be able to shop through the coming ChatGPT offering. Shares of Walmart were up more than 5% by Tuesday afternoon trading.

OpenAI partners with Walmart to let users buy products in ChatGPT, furthering chatbot shopping push

NEW YORK (AP) -- OpenAI is partnering with Walmart to let shoppers make purchases directly within ChatGPT, furthering the artificial intelligence company's push to turn its chatbot into a virtual merchant as it seeks to boost revenue. In an Tuesday announcement, Walmart said the new offering will give customers the option to "simply chat and buy." That means the retailer's products would be available through instant checkout in ChatGPT -- allowing users to buy anything from meal ingredients or household items, to other goods they might be discussing with the chatbot. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a prepared statement. "That is about to change." Sam Altman, cofounder and CEO of OpenAI, added that the partnership would "make everyday purchases a little simpler." The companies didn't immediately specify when ChatGPT users would be able to start purchasing Walmart products within the platform. Tuesday's announcement from Walmart just noted that the offering would be available "soon." But the partnership marks OpenAI's latest expansion into online commerce. The company has recently launched similar offerings for Shopify and Etsy sellers. Teaming up with Walmart -- the nation's largest retailer -- marks an even more sizeable leap for OpenAI in this space. And competing with the likes of Amazon and Google for purchase fees from digital shopping could be a new source of money for the company. OpenAI hasn't made a profit and has relied on investors to back the costs of building and running its powerful AI systems. When announcing its Etsy and Shopify partnerships last month, OpenAI said it worked with payments company Stripe on the technical standards to enable purchases through its "Instant Checkout" system. Separately, Walmart has worked to boost its own integration of AI across operations and its consumer-facing offerings in recent years. On Tuesday, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company pointed to its AI shopping assistant named Sparky -- as well as other uses of AI technology in product catalogues and customer care for both Walmart and Sam's Club. Members of Sam's Club, which is owned by Walmart, will also be able to shop through the coming ChatGPT offering. Shares of Walmart were up more than 5% by Tuesday afternoon trading.

Walmart, OpenAI team up for ChatGPT shopping tool

Walmart is partnering with OpenAI to allow customers to shop through ChatGPT, the retail giant announced Tuesday. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses. That is about to change," Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement. "There is a native AI experience coming that is multi-media, personalized and contextual," he added. "We are running towards that more enjoyable and convenient future with Sparky and through partnerships including this important step with OpenAI." The company unveiled its artificial intelligence (AI) shopping assistant, Sparky, earlier this year. The new partnership with OpenAI seeks to take advantage of the AI firm's Instant Checkout feature, which allows users to purchase items directly within ChatGPT. The feature initially allowed for purchases from Etsy and is set to expand to Shopify merchants, such as Glossier, SKIMS, Spanx and Vuori, according to the announcement late last month. "We're excited to partner with Walmart to make everyday purchases a little simpler. It's just one way AI will help people every day under our work together," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement Tuesday. The Walmart partnership underscores a growing focus across the tech and retail industries on agentic AI -- technology that can perform multistep tasks for users. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff suggested Tuesday at his company's annual Dreamforce conference that agentic AI is the "next revolution." "We've gone through cloud, we've gone through mobile, we've gone through social, we've gone through predictive AI. And now we're entering this new agentic AI revolution," Benioff said.

Walmart Just Made a Powerful Announcement. Here's How It Will Change Things for Customers

The company says it's using AI to cut fashion production timelines by up to 18 weeks and improve customer service resolution times by up to 40%. They've also rolled out ChatGPT Enterprise to teams across the company and are training employees on OpenAI certifications. And they built their own AI shopping assistant called Sparky for the Walmart app.In other words, this isn't Walmart dipping a toe in the water. This is Walmart betting that the entire interface of online shopping is about to change -- and positioning itself to be there first. ChatGPT's perspective There are a few reasons this partnership makes great sense for ChatGPT, too: * Walmart's range. You can buy groceries, electronics, clothes, furniture, and pharmacy items all from one place. That kind of breadth is exactly what makes a conversational shopping interface useful. If you're planning a camping trip or restocking your pantry, you don't want to talk to five different chatbots. * OpenAI's reach. ChatGPT has 800 million weekly active users as of September 2025. The friction isn't "will people use chatbots" -- it's "will they trust chatbots to complete purchases." Walmart's brand helps with that. * The fee structure. OpenAI charges companies a fee for transactions completed through ChatGPT, which Walmart didn't disclose. But this gives OpenAI a genuine revenue stream beyond subscriptions, and it gives Walmart access to a new sales channel where customers are already hanging out. Of course, there are some questions to be answered.

OpenAI Partners With Walmart to Let Users Buy Products in ChatGPT, Furthering Chatbot Shopping Push

NEW YORK (AP) -- OpenAI is partnering with Walmart to let shoppers make purchases directly within ChatGPT, furthering the artificial intelligence company's push to turn its chatbot into a virtual merchant as it seeks to boost revenue. In an Tuesday announcement, Walmart said the new offering will give customers the option to "simply chat and buy." That means the retailer's products would be available through instant checkout in ChatGPT -- allowing users to buy anything from meal ingredients or household items, to other goods they might be discussing with the chatbot. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a prepared statement. "That is about to change." Sam Altman, cofounder and CEO of OpenAI, added that the partnership would "make everyday purchases a little simpler." The companies didn't immediately specify when ChatGPT users would be able to start purchasing Walmart products within the platform. Tuesday's announcement from Walmart just noted that the offering would be available "soon." But the partnership marks OpenAI's latest expansion into online commerce. The company has recently launched similar offerings for Shopify and Etsy sellers. Teaming up with Walmart -- the nation's largest retailer -- marks an even more sizeable leap for OpenAI in this space. And competing with the likes of Amazon and Google for purchase fees from digital shopping could be a new source of money for the company. OpenAI hasn't made a profit and has relied on investors to back the costs of building and running its powerful AI systems. When announcing its Etsy and Shopify partnerships last month, OpenAI said it worked with payments company Stripe on the technical standards to enable purchases through its "Instant Checkout" system. Separately, Walmart has worked to boost its own integration of AI across operations and its consumer-facing offerings in recent years. On Tuesday, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company pointed to its AI shopping assistant named Sparky -- as well as other uses of AI technology in product catalogues and customer care for both Walmart and Sam's Club. Members of Sam's Club, which is owned by Walmart, will also be able to shop through the coming ChatGPT offering. Shares of Walmart were up more than 5% by Tuesday afternoon trading.

Walmart Stock Hit Record Highs on OpenAI Deal. What Message Does That Send About the Business of AI?

The OpenAI-Walmart partnership could allay some investor fears by boosting OpenAI's revenue, reducing its debt burden and demonstrating AI can deliver tangible returns on investment. The OpenAI fairy dust that has boosted tech stocks this year is spreading to new sectors. OpenAI and Walmart on Tuesday announced that ChatGPT users will soon be able to have the chatbot shop at Walmart for them without leaving the app. "Whether planning meals, restocking household essentials, or finding something new, customers can simply chat and buy, and Walmart will handle the rest," Walmart said in a statement. Walmart (WMT) stock rose on the announcement, gaining nearly 5% on Tuesday, its best day since early April. Shares tacked on another 2% on Wednesday to close at a record high and pace Dow Jones Industrial Average gainers for the second straight day. The stock lost ground on Thursday. For OpenAI -- which has been at the center of the deal-making lately that has sparked concerns about a possible AI bubble -- the partnership with the world's largest retailer represents an important step in its efforts to prove commercial viability. While the terms of the deal weren't disclosed, OpenAI is likely to receive a commission from sales made on its platform, which could reassure some market watchers concerned about the ability of OpenAI to generate revenue and reduce its debt burden. Walmart is the latest company whose stock has skyrocketed on the announcement of a tie-up with the world's most valuable private start-up. Shares of Broadcom (AVGO) soared nearly 10% Monday after it signed a deal with OpenAI to co-develop and deploy custom AI systems. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) inked a similar deal with the company last week, and its stock added nearly 25%. Even a simple shoutout at OpenAI's developers conference is enough to lift shares. OpenAI's recent dealmaking bonanza has sustained the latest leg of a nearly three-year bull market fueled by big tech and the AI boom. But it has also raised red flags on Wall Street, where some worry about the circularity of the deals underpinning lofty stock valuations. More than half of global fund managers surveyed by Bank of America in early October said they thought AI was in a bubble, and one-third identified an AI bubble as the stock market's biggest tail risk, more than inflation (27%) and challenges to the Federal Reserve's independence (14%). Those worried about a bubble compare Nvidia's (NVDA) recent investments in OpenAI and cloud providers like CoreWeave (CRWV) to the vendor financing deals that heralded the bursting of the Dotcom Bubble in 2000. They also note that the AI data center buildout, which has mostly been funded by big tech's healthy cash flows, is increasingly being financed with debt, exposing the infrastructure boom to the risk of tighter credit conditions. Though many others on Wall Street argue that bubble concerns are overblown. They point to growing AI demand from global enterprises and governments, as well as tech stock valuations that are still modest compared to the Dotcom era. OpenAI has forecast it will burn through more than $100 billion before reaching profitability around the turn of the decade. As a result, the start-up is expected to be highly reliant on debt and equity markets to fund the commitments it's made to Oracle, AMD, Broadcom, and others. A successful partnership with a massive retailer such as Walmart could boost OpenAI's revenue growth, allowing it to take on less debt. The partnership could also convince other retailers to strike similar deals and integrate their online shops with ChatGPT to reach the chatbot's more than 800 million weekly users. With Tuesday's stock move, "[Walmart's] multiple has moved up in anticipation of faster future growth and margins. We agree with this premise," wrote Morgan Stanley analysts in a note this week. They forecast the partnership could increase Walmart's EBIT margin by as much as 40%, an improvement that would likely make a strong case for other retailers to follow suit.

You Can Soon Use ChatGPT to Buy Products From the World's Largest Retailer

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said that the move changes online shopping to an "AI experience." Walmart, the world's largest retailer by revenue, is joining forces with OpenAI, the most valuable private company in the world, to let shoppers browse and buy products directly through ChatGPT. This partnership, announced on Tuesday in a press release, enables customers to utilize ChatGPT as a personal shopping assistant to request product recommendations, compare prices and provide the ability to buy in-app. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a press release. "That is about to change. There is a native AI experience coming that is multi-media, personalized and contextual." Related: ChatGPT Can Now Run Apps Like Zillow and Spotify The partnership makes online shopping more of a back-and-forth interaction between you and ChatGPT, rather than a typical search-and-click experience. For example, instead of typing search terms and scrolling through lists, shoppers tell ChatGPT what they are looking for, and then get recommendations for products. They can tap "Buy" underneath the product, confirm the shipping and payment details, and complete the purchase all in-app. The new functionality will launch this fall, per Bloomberg. Walmart's catalog includes apparel, entertainment, packaged food, and other products from Walmart, Sam's Club, and third-party sellers. OpenAI also announced partnerships with Etsy and Shopify earlier this year that function similarly to the Walmart collaboration. Shoppers can purchase items on Etsy or Shopify through ChatGPT. Related: OpenAI Made More Money in the First Six Months of the Year Than It Did in All of 2024 Shopping is becoming a fast-growing use case of AI. According to an August survey of 1,200 U.S. consumers conducted by email marketing platform Omnisend, nearly 60% of respondents used AI for shopping tasks. Only 32% felt reluctant to let AI handle payment transactions, down from 66% in February. The survey additionally found that 65% of those who used AI when shopping preferred ChatGPT to other chatbots like Anthropic's Claude, and used the chatbot for tasks like product research. As of October, OpenAI has surpassed 800 million weekly active users, more than 10% of the world's adult population. The startup became the most valuable privately held company in the world earlier this month, after a private stock sale valued the company at $500 billion. Meanwhile, Walmart is the largest company in the world by revenue, with 2024 worldwide retail sales of $675.58 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. The company is also the largest private employer in the world, with over two million employees.

OpenAI partners with Walmart to let users buy products in ChatGPT, furthering chatbot shopping push - The Economic Times

OpenAI and Walmart are joining forces to allows shoppers buy directly within ChatGPT. Walmart's products will be available for instant checkout on the AI chatbot, marking a significant expansion for OpenAI into online commerce. It could also create a new revenue stream for OpenAI.OpenAI is partnering with Walmart to let shoppers make purchases directly within ChatGPT, furthering the artificial intelligence company's push to turn its chatbot into a virtual merchant as it seeks to boost revenue. In an Tuesday announcement, Walmart said the new offering will give customers the option to "simply chat and buy." That means the retailer's products would be available through instant checkout in ChatGPT - allowing users to buy anything from meal ingredients or household items, to other goods they might be discussing with the chatbot. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a prepared statement. "That is about to change." Sam Altman, cofounder and CEO of OpenAI, added that the partnership would "make everyday purchases a little simpler." The companies didn't immediately specify when ChatGPT users would be able to start purchasing Walmart products within the platform. Tuesday's announcement from Walmart just noted that the offering would be available "soon." But the partnership marks OpenAI's latest expansion into online commerce. The company has recently launched similar offerings for Shopify and Etsy sellers. Teaming up with Walmart - the nation's largest retailer - marks an even more sizeable leap for OpenAI in this space. And competing with the likes of Amazon and Google for purchase fees from digital shopping could be a new source of money for the company. OpenAI hasn't made a profit and has relied on investors to back the costs of building and running its powerful AI systems. When announcing its Etsy and Shopify partnerships last month, OpenAI said it worked with payments company Stripe on the technical standards to enable purchases through its "Instant Checkout" system. Separately, Walmart has worked to boost its own integration of AI across operations and its consumer-facing offerings in recent years. On Tuesday, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company pointed to its AI shopping assistant named Sparky, as well as other uses of AI technology at both Walmart and Sam's Club. Members of Sam's Club, which is owned by Walmart, will be able to shop through the coming ChatGPT offering, too - and Walmart has boasted its promotion of "AI literacy" for its employees. "AI is transforming everything we do, from smarter catalogs to faster delivery, and it only works if people trust it," Daniel Danker, executive vice president of AI Acceleration, Product and Design at Walmart said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. Shares of Walmart were up nearly 5% as of market close Tuesday. Also Read: OpenAI to relax ChatGPT restrictions; plans to roll out new version in weeks

Walmart Wields OpenAI, ChatGPT To Kill 'Search Bar' Era - Walmart (NYSE:WMT)

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares are trading higher on Tuesday after the company announced that its shoppers will soon be able to buy directly through ChatGPT. The new Instant Checkout is part of a collaboration with ChatGPT's parent company, OpenAI, to create AI-first shopping. The rollout is designed to make everyday tasks -- meal planning, replenishing staples, and discovering new items -- faster and more conversational. The company framed the tie-up as the next step in agentic commerce, where AI anticipates customer needs and acts on their behalf. Also Read: Walmart Plans To Grow Revenue Without Hiring More People, Pointing To AI As The Future Of Its Workforce "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses. That is about to change," said Walmart CEO Doug McMillon. "We're excited to partner with Walmart to make everyday purchases a little simpler. It's just one way AI will help people every day under our work together," said Sam Altman, cofounder and CEO of OpenAI. Shoppers and members will be able to build carts, check out instantly, and receive proactive recommendations inside ChatGPT. Walmart said the experience will complement its existing AI investments across merchandising, supply chain, and customer service, and it plans to extend AI literacy and tooling to employees via OpenAI Certifications and ChatGPT Enterprise. Walmart has already started using AI tools in customer service, supply chain management, and internal operations. It has built chatbots, called "agents," for customers, suppliers, and employees. Price Action: WMT shares are trading higher by 1.54% to $103.68 at last check Tuesday. Read Next: Robinhood Weighs Prediction-Market Acquisitions: Report Image: Shutterstock WMTWalmart Inc$103.981.82%OverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Walmart-OpenAI Pact Shows That Retailers Expect You to Shop Through ChatGPT

Retailers and brands may benefit from partnerships with ChatGPT by reaching new audiences and improving their ability to research and target customers, Canaves said. This week's news of a partnership between the retail giant and OpenAI, the ChatGPT operator, is a substantial step forward for the encroachment of artificial intelligence into retail. Established retailers like Walmart (WMT) working with ChatGPT should bolster confidence in the tool as a way to make purchases, said Sky Canaves, an analyst covering retail and e-commerce for market research company Emarketer, "That will go a long way towards ameliorating trust concerns or worries," Canaves said. "Most consumers trust Walmart." (It's also lifted Walmart's stock.) Etsy (ETSY), Shopify (SHOP) and Walmart have all announced partnerships with OpenAI in recent weeks, moves Canaves said highlight younger generations' growing reliance on AI chatbots and shifts in how consumers shop.The partnerships allow -- or will soon allow -- people using digital wallets to complete transactions within conversations held with chatbots, the marketplace operators said. Nearly 40% of Americans have used generative AI to research products, find deals, come up with gift ideas or otherwise assist with shopping, according to an Adobe (ADBE) survey. More shoppers were beginning to trust these tools before Walmart's announcement, according to Adobe and Salesforce (CRM). (Salesforce is also working with OpenAI to improve ChatGPT selling options for its clients.) "Consumers, particularly younger consumers, are using ChatGPT so much," Canaves said. "They use it more for education, and in their day-to-day lives for all sorts of activities." Fewer people appear to be engaging with specific retailers' AI chatbots, such as Walmart's Sparky or Amazon's Rufus, Canaves said. About a quarter of consumers have tried these sorts of tools, with nearly 17% finding them helpful, and 9% saying they don't offer much benefit, according to Emarketer surveys. Still, more brands and retailers will likely focus on conversational commerce, Canaves said. Besides reaching people where they are online, collaborating with groups like ChatGPT may help merchants learn about their customers and personalize pitches, she said. "ChatGPT users are having conversations that not only span shopping and shopping intent, but a whole range of lifestyle and workplace and educational topics; health care, psychological and mental health topics," Canaves said. "It's a very fertile area for getting to understand consumers and their needs, and then targeting them in relevant ways." Companies that make consumer goods, meanwhile, may also need to revaluate the way they connect with consumers, Deutsche Bank analysts wrote this week. "AI's role as a new and powerful intermediary marks a potentially crucial change," they wrote. "Its ability to proactively suggest alternatives, private label offerings, or even niche brands based on perceived value, specific user requirements (e.g., dietary restrictions, budget), or availability could erode traditional loyalties and/or commoditize certain categories."

Is Arkansas-Based Walmart Poised for Gains in the Current Market? | The Motley Fool

Walmart's recent tie-up with OpenAI and ChatGPT propelled the already-hot stock to all-time highs, prompting cheers at its Arkansas headquarters as well as fears that the rally can't last. Walmart (WMT -0.67%) has long been defined by its scale and ability to consistently source and deliver "everyday low prices" at its 10,700 global stores and e-commerce sites. But lately, the 62-year-old Arkansas-based retail giant has not only been refreshing its own story but also, arguably, reshaping the broader retail industry along with it, thanks to its landmark new deal with privately held OpenAI, the parent of ChatGPT. According to its Oct. 14 announcement, the new partnership will let customers make purchases directly through ChatGPT. Instead of typing in search terms or scrolling through a lengthy list of results, the company said shoppers will soon be able to do all of that via the new Instant Checkout feature -- whether it involves planning meals, stocking up on nondiscretionary goods, or simply discovering new items. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in the company's news release. "That is about to change," he added while pointing to the importance of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven commerce that can instantly deliver personalized multimedia experiences -- at scale -- that are fun and convenient. While Walmart's growing embrace of technology and its increasing reliance on so-called omnichannel retailing is not new, the company's bet on AI and ChatGPT, combined with its long-standing pricing power and ability to navigate the current suite of economic challenges, has not gone unnoticed by investors. Specifically, within the struggling Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund, Walmart shares are up roughly 4% so far this month, 12% over three months, and 32% over the past year. This, at a time when the S&P 500 is up about 13% over the past 12 months and with Walmart defying the notion that defensive sectors have to be boring. As it stands, its $850 billion market value makes it the largest consumer staples stock, with an index weighting of almost 11%. There's also one other critical thing Walmart already has that will help it catalyze its investment in AI and Instant Checkout -- and that's data. "When I think about AI, one of the things that we've obviously got is a ton of data," McMillon told analysts during the second-quarter earnings call in August. "And it's not just product catalog data these days, it's delivery data. It's real-time data," he said in reference to what is often considered the secret sauce of e-commerce success. Add that to the fact that Walmart's in-house shopping bot Sparky is already operational and about to be paired with ChatGPT's 700 million weekly users, and the behemoth from Bentonville is digitally positioning itself in ways that few -- if any -- other retailers can easily match any time soon. When you add in the business case for Walmart's AI embrace -- including its work with over a million employees, contractors, and suppliers -- the bottom line benefits begin to add up. Those include advances such as an 18-week reduction in apparel production timelines or a 40% improvement in customer care resolution times, Walmart's recent statement said. As the aforementioned performance stats infer, as well as the fact that its stock is at an all-time high, investors have been on top of the Walmart story for some time now. This reality includes Amazon, whose stock has lagged the physical store leader by 70% since the COVID-19-era low five and a half years ago. As it stands, analysts overwhelmingly like Walmart right now, with 41 of 43 analysts surveyed by Yahoo! Finance currently rating the stock a buy or strong buy. One thing to be wary of, especially for new investors, is that those analysts see only about 5% upside potential over the next year, with a 12-month average price target of $113. There's also the ongoing stress and strain caused by tariffs. McMillon downplayed their impact on the company and consumers during the Q2 call but warned that as inventory is being replenished at post-tariff price levels, the retailer has seen their "costs increase each week" and expects that "will continue into the third and fourth quarters." Investors will be hungry for an update when Walmart posts its Q3 results in mid-November at a date that has yet to be announced.

Walmart partners with OpenAI for ChatGPT shopping feature

Walmart was partnering with OpenAI to enable customers and Sam's Club members to shop directly within ChatGPT, using the AI chatbot's Instant Checkout feature. Walmart said on Tuesday it was partnering with OpenAI to enable customers and Sam's Club members to shop directly within ChatGPT, using the AI chatbot's Instant Checkout feature. Walmart shares were up about 3% in early trading on Tuesday. The tie-up follows a similar partnership OpenAI announced last month with Etsy and Shopify, which sent the online sellers' shares soaring. Walmart, the world's largest retailer, is expanding its use of artificial intelligence as companies across sectors adopt the technology to simplify tasks and cut costs. Earlier this year, Walmart laid out plans to roll out a suite of AI-powered "super agents" to improve the shopping experience and streamline operations.

Agentic Commerce Partnership with OpenAI Drives Walmart Stock to Record High | PYMNTS.com

Walmart is "clearly ahead of the curve here, while others have been slow to adapt or even made efforts to block AI web crawlers," Bellinger said, per the report. The company's market capitalization is currently at $854 billion, according to the report. Only 11 stocks are currently valued at more than $1 trillion, and only two of them -- Berkshire Hathaway and Saudi Aramco -- are not technology companies, per the report. Beyond the new partnership with OpenAI, Walmart has also benefited from gains in market share as it meets the needs of value-seeking shoppers, the report said. Walmart announced its partnership with OpenAI on Tuesday (Oct. 14), saying the companies will create AI-first shopping experiences that allow Walmart customers and Sam's Club members to complete purchases directly within ChatGPT using Instant Checkout. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses," Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart Inc., said when announcing the partnership. "That is about to change. There is a native AI experience coming that is multi-media, personalized and contextual. We are running towards that more enjoyable and convenient future with Sparky and through partnerships including this important step with OpenAI." OpenAI introduced Instant Checkout on Sept. 29, saying that this new eCommerce component added to its popular AI chatbot ChatGPT "marks the next step in agentic commerce, where ChatGPT doesn't just help you find what to buy, it also helps you buy it." "For shoppers, it's seamless: go from chat to checkout in just a few taps," the company said when announcing Instant Checkout. "For sellers, it's a new way to reach hundreds of millions of people while keeping full control of their payments, systems and customer relationships."

AI in retail: Analysts react to Walmart's ChatGPT moment (WMT:NYSE)

Analysts are weighing in on Walmart's announcement that it is accelerating its digital transformation by partnering with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its shopping experience. Walmart (NYSE:WMT) customers can now initiate a query, shop items, and check out seamlessly, building on the Analysts suggest ChatGPT will enhance convenience and reduce shopping friction, potentially improving conversion rates, basket sizes, and customer loyalty, which could support sales and margin growth. By adopting ChatGPT early for product discovery and personalization, Walmart positions itself for incremental growth and competitive differentiation versus other retailers. Walmart focuses on driving customer engagement and sales productivity rather than mainly reducing SG&A expenses through AI.

Walmart Partners With OpenAI to Make Shopping Easier Than Ever, and Investors Are Taking Notice | The Motley Fool

Walmart (WMT 1.18%) is the world's biggest retailer, and maintaining that position means keeping up with modern technology. After neglecting e-commerce earlier, the company has spent the last decade building a network of grocery pickup stations to fulfill online orders, and it's created a robust marketplace. Those moves have paid off as Walmart has soared in recent years, outperforming rivals like Amazon, Costco, and Target over the last three years. Now, Walmart is making a big move in artificial intelligence, teaming up with OpenAI. Following in the footsteps of e-commerce companies like Etsy and Shopify, Walmart will also start using ChatGPT's "Instant Checkout" feature. With instant checkout on ChatGPT, shoppers can search for a product using the AI chatbot and buy it from Walmart through the chat interface. Let's say you ask ChatGPT for the best gas grill under $500. Once it gives you its recommendation, it will give you the option to buy it from Walmart, assuming Walmart sells it. CEO Doug McMillon touted the new partnership, saying, "For many years now, e-commerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses. That is about to change. There is a native AI experience that is multimedia, personalized and contextual." In addition to instant checkout, Walmart is also using ChatGPT internally with its employees, training them for OpenAI certifications. The instant checkout partnership also gives Walmart an edge over Amazon, which is a partner of Anthropic, a competing AI start-up into which it has invested $8 billion, giving it an estimated 15% to 19% ownership of Anthropic. Anthropic could eventually introduce a similar feature for its AI chatbot Claude, but Claude's user base is much smaller than ChatGPT's, and its focus tends to be different, as it's known for being able to handle larger documents and provide in-depth analysis. It's unclear how significant the partnership will be for Walmart, but the stock jumped on the news, gaining 5% on Oct. 14 when it was announced. McMillon is correct that it's past time for the online shopping experience, and searching easily through ChatGPT could be transformative. Keep an eye on how Instant Checkout performs, as it could move the needle even for a company the size of Walmart.

Walmart turns to OpenAI to reshape how people shop online - The Korea Times

Walmart and OpenAI have joined forces to offer shoppers the option to buy items by using OpenAI chatbot services in artificial intelligence. America's largest retail giant announced Tuesday it partnered with OpenAI to deploy its ChatGPT AI tool in order to allow consumers to purchase items more seamlessly. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses," according to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon. "That is about to change." It's part of a broader push by Walmart to integrate artificial intelligence into its business model. Walmart officials did not specify when ChatGPT will be available for shoppers other than to say it's arriving "soon." But the full agreement terms were unclear. OpenAI currently has similar deals with Shopify and Etsy and last month released GPT-5 in its the latest and most advanced iteration of its artificial intelligence technology. "We're excited to partner with Walmart to make everyday purchases a little simpler," OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman said in a statement. Walmart is among global companies leaning heavily into AI in it operations with staff deploying AI tools for inventory, scheduling and other tasks. "It's just one way AI will help people every day under our work together," Altman added in a statement. But economists offer differing opinions on the level of safety and worldwide impact of artificial intelligence. The general consensus among economic experts is that AI ultimately will increase inequality and decrease the number of open positions in the U.S. job market. Arkansas-based Walmart argued that the future of retail "isn't about replacing human connection with machines," but rather about "using AI to remove friction and make everyday moments easier, smarter and more delightful." On Tuesday, Walmart's CEO added how there is a "native AI experience coming" for shoppers that will be "multi-media, personalized and contextual," McMillon said.

Walmart Launches AI-First Shopping Experience, Customers Can Checkout Within ChatGPT | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. The partnership expands Walmart's use of artificial intelligence across its retail operations and reflects a broader industry shift toward conversational and predictive commerce. Through this integration, customers can plan meals, restock essentials, or find new products by chatting with the system and Walmart will handle the transaction from start to finish. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses," said Doug McMillon, President and CEO of Walmart Inc. "That is about to change. There is a native AI experience coming that is multi-media, personalized and contextual. We are running towards that more enjoyable and convenient future with Sparky and through partnerships including this important step with OpenAI." Sam Altman, cofounder and CEO of OpenAI, said, "We're excited to partner with Walmart to make everyday purchases a little simpler. It's just one way AI will help people every day under our work together." Walmart described the collaboration as an example of "agentic commerce," where AI shifts from a reactive tool to a proactive system that learns, plans and predicts, helping customers anticipate their needs before they do. The concept aligns with OpenAI's goal of enabling agents to assist users across everyday tasks from organizing information to completing purchases all within one interface. The company said it already applies AI across several areas of its business. These include enhancing product catalogs to reduce fashion production timelines by up to 18 weeks, improving customer-care resolution times by up to 40 percent, and training associates in AI literacy through tools such as ChatGPT Enterprise and OpenAI Certifications, as reported by PYMNTS. Walmart emphasized that its approach remains "people-led and tech-powered," using AI to "remove friction and make everyday moments easier, smarter and more delightful." The company said the goal is not to replace human connection but to use technology that supports convenience and simplicity. The announcement follows OpenAI's broader push to make digital shopping more seamless. Earlier this month, the company introduced Instant Checkout, a feature that lets users buy products directly within ChatGPT from participating merchants. The technology allows customers to view suggested items, confirm payment and shipping details, and complete the purchase without leaving the chat window. OpenAI said the system functions as a "digital personal shopper," securely relaying order details between the user and merchant. According to PYMNTS, AI agents are reshaping how consumers discover and purchase products by shortening the distance between search and checkout. Rather than browsing through thousands of listings, shoppers increasingly rely on conversational systems that narrow choices to a few personalized options and execute the purchase instantly. Walmart's partnership with OpenAI highlights how these AI-driven systems are moving from experimentation to mainstream deployment. As McMillon noted, the aim is to evolve beyond static eCommerce models toward dynamic, contextual interactions that blend human-like assistance with retail scale. "Helping people save money and live better has always been our focus," he said. "With AI, we can continue doing that in new ways that make shopping simpler, more personal and more convenient."

Walmart will now let you shop with ChatGPT, becoming latest retailer...

Walmart said Tuesday it was partnering with OpenAI to enable customers and Sam's Club members to shop directly within ChatGPT, using the AI chatbot's Instant Checkout feature. The world's largest retailer is expanding its use of artificial intelligence as companies across sectors adopt the technology to simplify tasks and cut costs. Walmart has announced AI tools including generative AI-powered 'Sparky,' which is available on its app to assist customers with product suggestions or summarizing product reviews, among other options. The company's growing investment in AI is also aimed at closing the gap with online behemoth Amazon, which had a head start with its chatbot, Rufus, a Gen AI-powered shopping assistant that answers various shopping queries. Walmart's tie-up with the ChatGPT-maker follows a similar partnership OpenAI announced last month with Etsy and Shopify. About 15% of total referral traffic for Walmart in September was from ChatGPT, up from 9.5% in August, data from SimilarWeb showed. However, referrals are only a minor source of traffic and ChatGPT referrals accounted for less than 1% of total web traffic for Walmart, the research firm said.

OpenAI partners with Walmart to let users buy products in ChatGPT, furthering chatbot shopping push

NEW YORK -- OpenAI is partnering with Walmart to let shoppers make purchases directly within ChatGPT, furthering the artificial intelligence company's push to turn its chatbot into a virtual merchant as it seeks to boost revenue. In an Tuesday announcement, Walmart said the new offering will give customers the option to "simply chat and buy." That means the retailer's products would be available through instant checkout in ChatGPT -- allowing users to buy anything from meal ingredients or household items, to other goods they might be discussing with the chatbot. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a prepared statement. "That is about to change." Sam Altman, cofounder and CEO of OpenAI, added that the partnership would "make everyday purchases a little simpler." The companies didn't immediately specify when ChatGPT users would be able to start purchasing Walmart products within the platform. Tuesday's announcement from Walmart just noted that the offering would be available "soon." But the partnership marks OpenAI's latest expansion into online commerce. The company has recently launched similar offerings for Shopify and Etsy sellers. Teaming up with Walmart -- the nation's largest retailer -- marks an even more sizeable leap for OpenAI in this space. And competing with the likes of Amazon and Google for purchase fees from digital shopping could be a new source of money for the company. OpenAI hasn't made a profit and has relied on investors to back the costs of building and running its powerful AI systems. When announcing its Etsy and Shopify partnerships last month, OpenAI said it worked with payments company Stripe on the technical standards to enable purchases through its "Instant Checkout" system. Separately, Walmart has worked to boost its own integration of AI across operations and its consumer-facing offerings in recent years. On Tuesday, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company pointed to its AI shopping assistant named Sparky -- as well as other uses of AI technology in product catalogues and customer care for both Walmart and Sam's Club. Members of Sam's Club, which is owned by Walmart, will also be able to shop through the coming ChatGPT offering. Shares of Walmart were up more than five per cent by Tuesday afternoon trading.

Walmart Taps ChatGPT. Here's Why This AI Deal Could Supercharge Its Stock. | The Motley Fool

Walmart (WMT 1.52%) is finding a new way to use artificial intelligence (AI). The nation's largest retailer announced a partnership with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, that will allow customers to make purchases -- and even plan their shopping lists -- through ChatGPT's app. Walmart already used a generative AI shopping agent, Sparky, to help consumers plan their purchases and make recommendations. The Oct. 14 announcement brings Walmart's brands to the dominant chatbot in the world, boasting 700 million weekly users and a global market share of more than 80%. "For many years now, e-commerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses. That is about to change," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said. "There is a native AI experience coming that is multi-media, personalized and contextual. We are running toward that more enjoyable and convenient future with Sparky and through partnerships including this important step with OpenAI." Customers of Walmart and Sam's Club will be able to complete purchases directly within ChatGPT. The chatbot will be capable of learning and predicting shopping patterns, and help customers anticipate their needs, Walmart says. Customers will use Instant Checkout on ChatGPT to complete their purchases. "We're excited to partner with Walmart to make everyday purchases a little simpler. It's just one way AI will help people every day under our work together," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said. The partnership is Walmart's latest foray into using AI to improve operations and customer experience. The company started using natural language processing as early as 2020 to allow voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa or Alphabet's Google Voice to help them shop. The company also operates a voice assistant for its employees, called Ask Sam, to help them locate store items, prices, and sales information. And it rolled out a series of AI tools earlier this year for its employees, including real-time translation of dozens of languages and task management tools. "AI is a key enabler in improving how we work, and we believe its full potential is unlocked only when paired with the strengths of our people," said Greg Cathey, a Walmart senior vice president, in July. "When you put intuitive, accessible technology into the hands of millions of associates, the impact isn't incremental -- it's transformational." The company reported 20% year-over-year e-commerce growth in the second quarter of its fiscal 2026 year, with 26% e-commerce growth in the U.S. alone. Innovations such as the company's partnership with OpenAI should help Walmart stock maintain and even increase its competitive advantage, particularly as customers become more reliant on chatbots for day-to-day tasks.

How OpenAI deal can make Walmart a trillion dollar market cap company By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Walmart's newly announced partnership with OpenAI could be the catalyst that pushes the retailer toward a trillion-dollar market capitalization, according to analysts at Mizuho Securities. Analyst David Bellinger calls the integration of ChatGPT's "Instant Checkout" feature a "major step forward in the adoption and broader acceleration of agentic commerce," arguing that Walmart is positioning itself ahead of peers as AI begins to reshape online purchasing behavior. The partnership will allow customers to complete transactions directly through ChatGPT, with Walmart highlighting the "proactive" and "predictive" nature of AI-powered shopping. Bellinger notes that while many consumer-facing companies have been slow to adapt or have even taken steps to block AI web crawlers, Walmart is leaning in and allocating capital and talent to accelerate its AI strategy. The analyst said Mizuho's deep-dive work on agentic AI suggests that AI agents acting autonomously on behalf of consumers could unlock the next leg of e-commerce growth. "We therefore view WMT as much more advanced than any other consumer-related name and our preferred agentic AI play," he wrote, pointing to the recruitment of former Instacart executive Daniel Danker to lead customer-facing AI initiatives. Fresh food is not yet included in the first rollout, but Bellinger expects the feature set to expand across categories. Walmart's current market cap stands just over $814 billion, and Mizuho argues that today's announcement "should push WMT shares closer to our bull case scenario which, in turn, could make WMT one of the few, elite trillion dollar market cap companies in existence." Their bull case assumes mid-single-digit comparable sales growth, faster scaling of advertising, membership and marketplace revenues, and EBIT margins rising well above 5%, supporting a valuation multiple north of 40x earnings. In its base case, Mizuho applies a 36x multiple to forward earnings with a price target of $115, already a premium to peers. Bellinger says a decade-long investment cycle is now reaching a tipping point, with earnings leverage improving as higher-margin digital businesses accelerate. With AI agents potentially increasing order frequency and retention in core categories such as consumables and grocery, the analyst sees multiple ways for Walmart to gain further scale and improve profitability. "WMT is clearly ahead of the curve here, while others have been slow to adapt or even made efforts to block AI web crawlers," he said.

Walmart teams up with OpenAI to enable direct purchases via ChatGPT

On Tuesday,Walmart announced a strategic partnership with OpenAI that will enable consumers to purchase products directly from ChatGPT. This initiative marks a major evolution in online commerce, where generative artificial intelligence is becoming a purchasing channel in its own right. The retailer intends to capitalize on the growing role of conversational assistants in purchasing behavior, which are increasingly used to search for gift ideas, compare offers, or obtain personalized recommendations. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon presented this collaboration as a break with the traditional online search model. He promises a "personalized, contextual, and multimedia" experience, tailored to a more fluid and interactive shopping experience. OpenAI had already launched its "Instant Checkout" feature at the end of September, allowing users to make quick purchases from ChatGPT for products from Etsy, and planned to integrate over one million Shopify merchants. The agreement with Walmart significantly expands this large-scale system. The financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed, but OpenAI plans to charge companies for each transaction made through its assistant. For Walmart, this collaboration complements the development of its own smart shopping assistant, Sparky, already featured in its mobile app. The combination of the two technologies illustrates the convergence between traditional retail and artificial intelligence, as conversational commerce emerges as a new frontier in e-commerce.

Walmart partners with OpenAI for ChatGPT shopping feature

(Reuters) -Walmart said on Tuesday it was partnering with OpenAI to enable customers and Sam's Club members to shop directly within ChatGPT, using the AI chatbot's Instant Checkout feature. Walmart shares were up about 3% in early trading on Tuesday. The tie-up follows a similar partnership OpenAI announced last month with Etsy and Shopify, which sent the online sellers' shares soaring. Walmart, the world's largest retailer, is expanding its use of artificial intelligence as companies across sectors adopt the technology to simplify tasks and cut costs. Earlier this year, Walmart laid out plans to roll out a suite of AI-powered "super agents" to improve the shopping experience and streamline operations. (Reporting by Sanskriti Shekhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

Walmart Partners with OpenAI to Create AI-First Shopping Experiences

From inspiration to purchase, Walmart and Sam's Club are shaping the future of retail, connecting with customers and members at every step Walmart is ushering in the next generation of retail by combining its huge assortment, everyday low prices and delivery speed with the power of AI. Today, the company announced a new partnership with OpenAI that will start with allowing customers and members to soon shop Walmart through ChatGPT using Instant Checkout. Whether planning meals, restocking household essentials, or finding something new, customers can simply chat and buy, and Walmart will handle the rest. "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses. That is about to change. There is a native AI experience coming that is multi-media, personalized and contextual. We are running towards that more enjoyable and convenient future with Sparky and through partnerships including this important step with OpenAI," said Doug McMillon, President and CEO, Walmart Inc. At the center of this transformation are the everyday moments that define how people shop. This is agentic commerce in action: where AI shifts from reactive to proactive, from static to dynamic. It learns, plans and predicts, helping customers anticipate their needs before they do. "We're excited to partner with Walmart to make everyday purchases a little simpler. It's just one way AI will help people every day under our work together," said Sam Altman, cofounder and CEO of OpenAI. Today, Walmart and Sam's Club leverage AI across every part of the business. It's not just about moving fast; it's about moving smarter and with purpose. From enhancing the product catalog to reducing fashion production timelines by up to 18 weeks, to ensuring a more seamless shopping journey and cutting customer care resolution times by up to 40%, the company is applying AI so every shopping experience is more convenient and more rewarding. Walmart also is empowering its associates with AI tools and training, including promoting AI literacy across its workforce as one of the first partners to embrace OpenAI Certifications and rolling out ChatGPT Enterprise to teams across the company. As Walmart defines what's next for retail, its approach remains the same: people-led and tech-powered, helping people save money and live better. The future of retail isn't about replacing human connection with machines, it's about using AI to remove friction and make everyday moments easier, smarter and more delightful. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251014984151/en/