Are AI platforms going to make OTAs obsolete? Three different analysis worth reading. OpenAI wants to add taxes, click costs and royalties. Business of hotel merch and more.
This is a smart, level-headed take in a space that’s getting very loud very fast. No “OTAs are dead” theatrics, just a clear look at where the real advantages still sit and where the cracks are forming.
What really resonates is the point about trust and risk. Travel isn’t buying a hoodie. When things go wrong, people want a grown-up on the other end of the line. AI can streamline discovery, but reassurance is still a human (or at least institution-level) job.
Also appreciate the framing of OTAs potentially becoming plumbing. Not sexy, but incredibly powerful. Most platforms don’t die, they just get repositioned. The ones that survive are the ones honest enough to see that coming.
I'm wondering about legacy web companies vs AI, big time.
It's possible AI democratizes internet traffic back directly to hotel brands themselves from the cutthroat big monopolistic players: Tripadvisor, Expedia, Marriott, etc, as you note. But something fascinating about the achilles heel of being software or web based only.
If you're software *only*, it doesn't matter if you're a major player that adds AI to their website. Anyone can spin up an AI software model anywhere in the world now, so the future post-AI-bubble is physical AI and hardware. People won't be going to Tripadvisor to ask that AI, they will be using whatever hardware they use: watch, google home, smartphone, the television (the washer or fridge?).
I'm also attaching a clip that I think nails it, and it was confirmed at a product launch Tuesday, where there was a VS and AI round table. This is from a podcast that concurs: https://i.imgur.com/n1i2Ytd.mp4
They all said physical AI and hardware is the future, but the most wildly overhyped thing that doesn't make sense is humanoid robots. They in-depth explained why, and then Elon mentioned retiring Model S and X for the fremont factory to focus on his Optimus Robots. LOL
Also, a clip of the non-autonomous Optimus failing and falling when someone doesn't log out post demo. https://i.imgur.com/z4zfs8y.mp4
So the bubble is there, very much centered around legacy software and web.
AI pin definitely has a future. They were way too early. Latency would have killed the product even if it did go big. And then there's Apple who only needs to mildly tweak the watch device to make it into a pin to win. AI interfaces really do change how we interact with data.
The "glasshole" thing, however... people hate the notion of being recorded and filmed in public, still. Even if there is no reasonable expectation of privacy, we're not there yet as a society, and I am neophyte and nostalgic enough to hope we don't go there. Or at least... that we don't do this: https://youtu.be/YJg02ivYzSs?si=H8nx6-OUYuqdbizH&t=85
This is a smart, level-headed take in a space that’s getting very loud very fast. No “OTAs are dead” theatrics, just a clear look at where the real advantages still sit and where the cracks are forming.
What really resonates is the point about trust and risk. Travel isn’t buying a hoodie. When things go wrong, people want a grown-up on the other end of the line. AI can streamline discovery, but reassurance is still a human (or at least institution-level) job.
Also appreciate the framing of OTAs potentially becoming plumbing. Not sexy, but incredibly powerful. Most platforms don’t die, they just get repositioned. The ones that survive are the ones honest enough to see that coming.
I'm wondering about legacy web companies vs AI, big time.
It's possible AI democratizes internet traffic back directly to hotel brands themselves from the cutthroat big monopolistic players: Tripadvisor, Expedia, Marriott, etc, as you note. But something fascinating about the achilles heel of being software or web based only.
If you're software *only*, it doesn't matter if you're a major player that adds AI to their website. Anyone can spin up an AI software model anywhere in the world now, so the future post-AI-bubble is physical AI and hardware. People won't be going to Tripadvisor to ask that AI, they will be using whatever hardware they use: watch, google home, smartphone, the television (the washer or fridge?).
I'm also attaching a clip that I think nails it, and it was confirmed at a product launch Tuesday, where there was a VS and AI round table. This is from a podcast that concurs: https://i.imgur.com/n1i2Ytd.mp4
They all said physical AI and hardware is the future, but the most wildly overhyped thing that doesn't make sense is humanoid robots. They in-depth explained why, and then Elon mentioned retiring Model S and X for the fremont factory to focus on his Optimus Robots. LOL
Also, a clip of the non-autonomous Optimus failing and falling when someone doesn't log out post demo. https://i.imgur.com/z4zfs8y.mp4
So the bubble is there, very much centered around legacy software and web.
AI pin definitely has a future. They were way too early. Latency would have killed the product even if it did go big. And then there's Apple who only needs to mildly tweak the watch device to make it into a pin to win. AI interfaces really do change how we interact with data.
The "glasshole" thing, however... people hate the notion of being recorded and filmed in public, still. Even if there is no reasonable expectation of privacy, we're not there yet as a society, and I am neophyte and nostalgic enough to hope we don't go there. Or at least... that we don't do this: https://youtu.be/YJg02ivYzSs?si=H8nx6-OUYuqdbizH&t=85