OpenAI warns OTAs as Uber makes its move in travel

Bret Taylor, Chairman of OpenAI, hinted at the Skift Global Forum that AI agents are going to own the customer conversation, and that could push OTAs to the sidelines. In other words, discovery and transaction may end up happening inside an assistant, not on the usual website. The warning comes from Bret Taylor himself, on a panel shared with the top brass from Uber and Booking.

Uber is not standing still. Dara Khosrowshahi presented its travel expansion with hotels alongside Expedia and a model that rewards members with 10% to 20% discounts by running hotel inventory at break-even. The pitch is simple: sell travel the way you order a car. I see a real threat here only for the most commoditised side of distribution. The customer booking an unbranded three-star property has it easier than ever, and the middleman who only adds price will feel it.

Glenn Fogel, Booking's CEO, argued that consumer trust remains its edge over AI in discovery and transaction. He is half right. Agents take the conversation, but the guarantee that the hotel exists, that the booking is honoured, and that there is someone to claim against still sells. My take: whoever builds their own brand and data survives the shift, whoever resells third-party rates with nothing else runs out of room.