United blocks AI agents from completing flight bookings on its channels

United Airlines will stop AI agents from completing flight bookings through its website, third-party travel agencies and flight aggregators, according to reports from Engadget and The Verge. Agents can still show United flights, but they cannot finish a purchase on a customer's behalf.

The airline cites privacy and security risks. Giving payment details or login credentials to an agent could expose sensitive information and lead to purchases or account changes the customer did not intend. United also says airline rules from the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration require a human to confirm things such as a bag containing no explosives at check-in.

United has not yet seen many customers use agents to book flights, the Wall Street Journal reports, and CEO Scott Kirby has said he does not want to create another middleman. The Verge reports that United could revisit the decision as third-party agents improve. Engadget points out that Southwest lets customers book through a ChatGPT plugin, so airlines are taking different approaches.

Other companies have also limited agents. JPMorgan Chase and Amazon block agents from their products, and eBay appears to block agents from browsing its site. Engadget also cites Uber's third-quarter earnings call, where the company said agents were behind 500 food delivery orders and four rides during the week of Halloween, out of 320 million trips and deliveries.

The reports do not say how United will verify agent requests or whether the rule will apply to every agent type. Those details remain unknown for now.