Walmart CEO John Furner said the retailer will not use customers’ income, shopping history, urgency, willingness to pay or shopping timing to set prices as it expands digital price labels. He also said information shared with Sparky, Walmart’s artificial intelligence shopping assistant, will not be used to raise prices or hide lower-priced items. The assurances face scrutiny from consumer advocacy group Groundwork Collaborative, which cited a 2023 Walmart patent for remotely controlling electronic shelf labels and dynamically changing prices based on a customer’s cart or product supply and demand. Furner has highlighted Sparky’s commercial growth, saying its user count was up 70% from the prior year and that users spent 40% more per order than nonusers. Walmart said 2,300 U.S. locations already use digital shelves and expects chain-wide deployment within the next year. The retailer’s 2024 acquisition of Vizio also raises questions about how connected-device data could support future shopping and advertising services, including potential Sparky integration on televisions. The Federal Trade Commission has warned that personalized pricing may violate consumer protection laws and said companies must disclose how personal information is used.