Walmart partners with OpenAI to create proactive shopping experience

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is partnering with OpenAI (OPENAI) to expand its use of artificial intelligence across its retail channels that will allow customers to shop online at Walmart through ChatGPT using Instant Checkout.

Customers can now initiate a query, shop items and check out seamlessly, building on Walmart’s Sparky AI shopping assistant. Besides searching for particular items within its catalogue, Walmart’s AI capabilities have now shifted from reactive to proactive, and from static to dynamic.

By engaging ChatGPT, Walmart’s new agentic commerce tool “learns, plans and predicts, helping customers anticipate their needs before they do,” the company said in a statement.

“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, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI.

In addition to using AI for its customers, Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is also promoting AI literacy among employees by offering OpenAI certification and rolling out ChatGPT Enterprise to teams across the company.

The news jolted Walmart (NYSE:WMT) shares higher before the open, and while most of the gains were surrendered, the stock remains 1.5% higher on Tuesday.