AI coding editor joins Walmart’s start-up programme

Walmart Global Technology, the retail technology arm of Walmart, has added a new company to its start-up programme as part of its generative AI (GenAI) push.

Cursor is a software development company which has designed an AI-first code editor engineered to turn natural language into production-ready code.

The business will join Walmart Global Technology’s paid pilot programme Sparkcubate, a scheme in which the retailer partners with selected start-ups which solve retail challenges such as supply chain management or sustainability.

Over a period of a few months, start-ups run business pilots and successful projects which may lead to longer term collaborations.

Vini Jolly, director new ventures and growth, strategy and tech partnerships at Walmart Global Tech wrote on LinkedIn that Walmart is leveraging AI to lay the foundation for the development of next-generation software.

“This collaboration is yet another example of Walmart doubling down on genAI and hashtag agentic AI as we deliver unprecedented efficiency to the entire software development life cycle, transitioning workflows from automation to autonomous,” she added. “Cursor’s AI-native coding platform is purpose-built to support the next wave of developer productivity, autonomy and software innovation enabling the talented internal teams to ship software faster, smarter…at Walmart scale!”

In June, Walmart announced it had implemented several AI-powered tools designed to streamline operations, reduce inefficiencies and improve workplace productivity for its employees.

One newly introduced AI task management system assists with overnight stocking operations by helping prioritise workloads.

Walmart says this innovation has decreased shift planning time by approximately one hour, prompting plans for wider implementation across additional locations.

The company has also developed a real-time translation tool supporting 44 languages to improve communication between multilingual staff and customers.

This system facilitates both text and speech conversations while incorporating Walmart-specific terminology including brand names.

The retailer confirmed intentions to expand language options and introduce the tool globally in future updates.