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By Bill Peters

Move will help Walmart stand out as retailers try to win over cautious consumers, one analyst says

A new partnership will let consumers buy items sold at Walmart through OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Instant Checkout.

Walmart Inc. was the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s top percentage gainer on Tuesday and closed at a record high, after the big-box chain announced a partnership that will soon allow customers to buy items at the retailer through OpenAI’s artificial-intelligence chatbot ChatGPT.

Shares of Walmart (WMT) finished 4.9% higher on Tuesday.

The partnership between Walmart and OpenAI will let customers and members buy items sold at Walmart through ChatGPT and Instant Checkout, a shopping tool OpenAI introduced late last month.

“For many years now, e-commerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses,” Walmart Chief Executive Doug McMillon said in a statement. “That is about to change. There is a native AI experience coming that is multimedia, personalized and contextual.”

Walmart made the announcement as shoppers continue to struggle with higher prices – and increasingly turn to mass retailers for relief – and as retailers navigate the U.S.-led trade war. Meanwhile, concerns have grown about the astronomical costs to develop AI, as well as consumers’ willingness to pay for it.

Walmart already uses AI in things like customer service and clothing design. UBS analyst Michael Lasser, in a note on Tuesday, said Walmart’s announcement underscored the retailer’s ability to keep pace with trends in technology and shopping.

“Thus, this should provide incrementality and differentiation vs. the rest of retail,” he said.

D.A. Davidson’s Michael Baker, in a note on Tuesday, was also upbeat about the move.

“This supports our view that Walmart will be a winner among traditional retailers in the agentic commerce race,” he said, referring to the digital AI “agents” designed to help humans with tasks.

When OpenAI announced Instant Checkout last month, it said U.S. ChatGPT users would be able to make in-chat purchases from domestic Etsy Inc. (ETSY) merchants, with products from sellers on Shopify Inc. (SHOP) to be made available later. At the time, it said shoppers could make single-item purchases on Instant Checkout, with multi-item purchases set to follow.

Shares of Walmart are up 18.7% so far this year.

-Bill Peters

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  10-14-25 1700ET
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