United is restricting AI agents from booking flights

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United is restricting AI agents from booking flights. We'll talk more about it in moments, but first, continuing on its apparent quest to ensure the chat pod is inescapable on as many screens, speakers, and experiences as possible, Google has brought the Gemini app to Apple CarPlay. It's available starting today for all supported Gemini Live languages. Google previously made the AI Assistant available on CarPlay through the Google Maps app.

Now, you'll be able to access it just by tapping the Gemini icon on your display. Google said you can pick up where you left off with Gemini in your car or start a new conversation with the chat pod. The company suggested drivers could use Gemini to prep for a meeting during their commute, catch up on emails, hear their daily brief, or get recommendations for local places worth checking out in an area. Your conversations will sync with the Gemini iPhone app and remain in your chat history.

Google brought the Gemini app to CarPlay not long after it enabled personal assistance, which can access details from other Google apps for more personalized responses in the chat pod on Android Auto. The company is bringing personal intelligence to Gemini on cars with Google built in as well.

And ByteDance wants to take on Meta's Muse with its own AI agent. The company is writing an AI assistant that could be revealed in the coming weeks, Bloomberg reports. The report doesn't detail what the agent will be called or how it will work, but says that it will serve a similar role to Meta's Muse. Muse has already drawn more than 10 million users, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has predicted the AI agent could generate more revenue per user than its existing family of apps. The agent is also expected to play a significant role in Meta's AI glasses, and the company has previewed a standalone charm for Muse. It's not clear if ByteDance is also planning on incorporating its agent into hardware. The AI assistant is one piece of the Chinese company's strategy to compete with frontier AI companies. Remember, you can find the latest Gadget News, reviews, price drops, and more right now at engadget.com.

United Airlines has announced it will change ticketing policies to restrict AI agents from booking flights through its website, third-party travel agencies, and flight aggregators. The airline joins a growing number of businesses, including JP Morgan Chase and Amazon, which block agents from using their products to avoid the security and privacy issues associated with them. Giving something like your payment details or login credentials to an agent can expose sensitive information and lead to unintended purchases, account changes, or use of mileage plus miles, United says. Allowing an AI agent to complete a booking could also violate existing airline regulations from the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration. For example, United says only a human can acknowledge that their bag doesn't contain explosives during flight check-in. United would like to avoid association with any agent-based embarrassments, for instance, when Meta's muse leaked a user's address online. Like other companies, it also wants to keep AI from getting in the way of its relationship with customers. The Wall Street Journal reports that United CEO Scott Kirby has been open about the company's reluctance to jump into agentic commerce.

To be honest, I don't want to create another middleman, Kirby said, at an event on Tuesday. Not every airline feels the same way. Southwest created a plugin so users can book flights with ChatGPT.