Why Expedia Won’t Fight ChatGPT’s Travel Ambitions

AI companies envision a future in which AI agents, rather than humans, become the primary users of websites such as commerce apps. The idea is that people may be more inclined to ask chatbots like ChatGPT or Gemini to buy a new pack of paper towels or book a hotel for them than to go to individual websites.

While some website owners such as Amazon have resisted shopping-related agents, which could threaten revenue from selling ads, others such as Expedia say they don’t plan to fight such agents. In fact, Expedia Chief Technology Officer Ramana Thumu said the online travel-booking firm wants to make its app as easy as possible for AI agents to use.