Walmart has patented AI systems that use machine learning to recommend when and by how much to lower prices on specific products — primarily to time markdowns more precisely and reduce overstocked inventory. In early 2026, details of the patents became public and sparked concern about dynamic or personalized pricing. Walmart has stated the systems are not used for surge pricing or individual-level price changes.

In March 2026, Walmart secured U.S. patent US-12524776-B2 for a system that "dynamically and automatically" updates item prices on e-commerce platforms by combining price elasticity data with predicted demand. A second related patent from January 2026 covers a machine learning-based demand forecasting and price recommendation engine. Separately, Walmart operates a Market Intelligence platform that uses machine learning for competitive price matching. Walmart is also deploying electronic shelf labels — digital price tags — across all 4,600 U.S. stores, which would make price changes faster and cheaper to execute. Walmart responded publicly by saying: "We don't participate in surge pricing," framing the patents as tools for smarter markdown timing. Approximately 62% of U.S. adults report some concern about personalized pricing, according to eMarketer.