Walmart is the latest company to strike a deal with OpenAI, following a string of commerce-related AI announcements over the last few weeks.
The tie-up allows Walmart shoppers to buy products within ChatGPT, OpenAI’s popular chatbot, starting this fall.
It follows deals between OpenAI and other ecommerce players including Shopify and Etsy, showing growing demand for the ability to complete a wide variety of purchases on behalf of users through a chatbot, a growing trend referred to as agentic commerce. OpenAI first debuted shopping within ChatGPT back in April.
“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,” Doug McMillon, Walmart president and CEO, said in a statement. “There is a native AI experience coming that is multi-media, personalized and contextual.”
Walmart has already made significant investments in generative AI technology, giving its store employees access to AI tools and launching an AI-powered shopping assistant, Sparky, in June.
“We’re excited to partner with Walmart to make everyday purchases a little simpler,” Sam Altman, cofounder and CEO of OpenAI, said in a statement. “It’s just one way AI will help people every day under our work together.”
The deal with OpenAI is consistent with Walmart’s track record of jumping early into new technology, UBS analyst Michael Lasser wrote in a note.
“ChatGPT is being increasingly used for product discovery,” Lasser continued. “This should provide incrementality and differentiation vs. the rest of retail.”
