Walmart is taking a big step in using technology by launching Wallaby, a new language model designed specifically for retail. This AI tool will help Walmart understand how employees and customers communicate better, improving customer service.

Desirée Gosby, Walmart's Vice President of Emerging Technology, shared in an interview that Wallaby is currently being tested by Walmart's employees. “We want to make sure Wallaby works well for our customers, so we’re testing it a lot with our associates,” said Gosby. She mentioned that Wallaby won’t be available to the public just yet, but it is expected to help customers in various ways in the next year.

By creating its own language models, Walmart aims to save money and use its vast amount of data more effectively. The company has a lot of information about customers and operations, which can make Wallaby more accurate in its responses. Walmart also uses a platform called Element to combine different AI models, so it can choose the best one for each task.

Walmart has been using AI for several years, including chatbots that help employees find information and systems that improve supply chain management. The company has also made improvements to its customer service tools, allowing the AI to understand and respond to customer questions more naturally.

For example, if a customer talks about a recent toy purchase, the system can help them return or exchange it more easily.

As other retailers like Amazon invest in AI, Walmart is committed to using technology to enhance the shopping experience for its customers and support its employees. “We want to keep finding new ways to use AI to help our customers and associates, and Wallaby is an important part of that plan,” said Gosby.

With Wallaby and other AI tools on the way, Walmart is set to continue leading the retail industry by creating more personalized and efficient shopping experiences for everyone.