Meta Platforms' Muse has already begun reshaping the consumer landscape by offering shoppers a dedicated virtual assistant. Walmart, however, is holding the line.

CEO John Furner reaffirmed Walmart's commitment to fair pricing and said the retailer would never upcharge customers based on higher demand or time of day or based on personalized information. As the company features its AI shopping assistant, dubbed Sparky, Furner assured customers that personal data will be used solely to improve customized recommendations, never to surge prices or hide cheaper alternatives.

"AI has added incredible new ways for us to serve our customers and members, and it rightfully also raises questions about the information it has access to," Furner said in a published letter to shareholders Friday. "We've never used the relationships our associates have with customers to charge more, and we won't do that with AI."

Furner addressed the public skepticism surrounding Walmart's digital shelf labels, clarifying that the electronic price tags tags are intended to streamline inventory updates and eliminate pricing errors between the shelf and the checkout, rather than perform surge-pricing.

The announcement comes on the heels of Meta's Muse, a personal AI assistant built for everyday tasks like shopping. However, when consumers rely on an external AI agent for shopping instead of traditional sites like Walmart and Amazon, retailers risk losing direct traffic, which could threaten high-margin advertising revenue, the ability to suggest add-on sales at online checkout, and control over the customer experience.

Shares of Walmart rose 0.4% to $108.45 Monday. The stock has fallen 2.6% this year.