JPMorgan Chase, Charles Schwab, Amazon, Neiman Marcus and Kohl's are blocking AI personal agents like Meta Muse from accessing customer accounts. These agents help consumers find better savings rates, shop for deals and cancel subscriptions.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon cited security risks as the reason the bank blocks external AI agents from operating on behalf of retail customers. Reports last week described AI agents going rogue in customer accounts, prompting senators Mark Warner and Bernie Sanders to call for bot legislation.
Walmart took the opposite approach. The retailer announced it is opening its platform to AI agents that customers prefer to use. "We price products, not people, so the prices that an AI agent sees are the same prices that a human would see on Walmart.com, with applicable offers and fees shown before purchase," Walmart said in a blog post.
An audit by identity-verification company Billions Network and affiliated company AmanTrue examined 51 large U.S. retailers' published access rules. The audit found only 11 retailers have taken a deliberate position on AI agents. Five retailers, including Amazon, Kohl's and Neiman Marcus, explicitly restrict them. Another 37 block shopping agents largely by accident through older bot rules written for scrapers. None of the retailers audited has a way for a verified agent to complete a purchase.