Walmart has launched a service in collaboration with OpenAI that enables customers and members of Sams’s Club to make purchases directly within ChatGPT.

The move comes after the AI firm announced the launch of Instant Checkout last month.

In September, OpenAI said that the new feature would begin with US Etsy sellers, with Shopify merchants to follow.

Merchants pay a small fee on completed purchases, while users are not charged and prices are unaffected.

The system is powered by its Agentic Commerce Protocol, co developed with Stripe, and will initially support single item purchases before expanding to multi item carts and more regions.

Through the new partnership, Walmart customers will also be able to chat with the technology and discover new products.

The US grocery giant said the use of agentic AI will “learn, plan and predict” to help customers anticipate their needs before they do.

“For many years now, e-commerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses,” said Doug McMillon, president and chief executive of Walmart. “That is about to change. There is a native AI experience coming that is multi-media, personalised and contextual.

“We are running towards that more enjoyable and convenient future with Sparky and through partnerships including this important step with OpenAI.”

Walmart said that it currently uses AI across every part of its business, adding that the technology is helping the company “move smarter” and with purpose.

Through the use of AI, the retail giant has managed to reduce fashion production timelines by up to 18 weeks and cut customer care resolution times by up to 40 per cent.

Walmart is also providing its employees with AI tools and training, including promoting AI literacy across its workforce.

Additionally, the company is providing OpenAI Certifications and rolling out ChatGPT Enterprise to teams across the company.

In May, Walmart Global Technology, the retail technology arm of Walmart, added a new company to its start-up programme as part of its generative AI (GenAI) push.

Cursor is a software development company which has designed an AI-first code editor engineered to turn natural language into production-ready code.

The business will join Walmart Global Technology’s paid pilot programme Sparkcubate, a scheme in which the retailer partners with selected start-ups which solve retail challenges such as supply chain management or sustainability.

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