Delta Air Lines is using AI to set the maximum price you're willing to pay
'We will have a price that's available on that flight, on that time, to you, the individual,' Delta president Glen Hauenstein told investors in November, having started to test the technology on one percent of its ticket prices. Delta currently uses AI to influence three percent of its ticket prices, according to last week's earnings call, and is aiming to increase that to 20 percent by the end of this year. 'We're in a heavy testing phase,' said Hauenstein. 'We like what we see. We like it a lot, and we're continuing to roll it out.'
While personalized pricing isn't unique to Delta, the airline has been particularly candid about embracing it. During that November call, Hauenstein said the AI ticketing system is 'a full reengineering of how we price and how we will be pricing in the future,' and described the rollout as 'a multiyear, multi-step process.' Hauenstein acknowledged that Delta was excited about the initial revenue results it saw in testing, but noted the shift to AI-determined pricing could 'be very dangerous, if it's not controlled and it's not done correctly.'
Delta's personalized AI pricing tech is provided by travel firm Fetcherr, which also partners with Virgin Atlantic, Azul, WestJet, and VivaAerobus. In Delta's case, the AI will act as a 'super analyst' that operates 24/7 to determine custom ticket prices that should be offered to individual customers in real-time, per specific flights and times.
Airlines have varied their ticket prices for customers on the same routes for many years, depending on a range of factors, including how far in advance the booking is made, what website or service it's being booked with, and even the web browser the customer is using. Delta is no exception, but AI pricing looks set to supercharge the approach.
Delta has taken heat for charging customers different prices for flights, having rolled back the decision to price tickets higher for solo-travelers compared to groups in May. It's not entirely clear how invasive Delta's AI ticketing will be when it analyzes customers to figure out prices, but Fortune notes that it has privacy advocates concerned.
'They are trying to see into people's heads to see how much they're willing to pay,' Justin Kloczko of Consumer Watchdog told the publication. 'They are basically hacking our brains.' Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego described it as 'predatory pricing' that's designed to 'squeeze you for every penny.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Goldman Sachs to forgo second round of job cuts as outlook improves
Goldman Sachs has decided against making a second round of broad performance-based job cuts this year after a better than expected recovery Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trending tickers: The latest investor updates on Tesla, Alphabet, Chipotle, BT and ITV
Tesla (TSLA) Shares in Tesla fell nearly 7% in pre-market trading on Thursday morning, after the electric vehicle (EV) company's second quarter earnings slightly missed estimates. In results released after the bell on Wednesday, Tesla posted second quarter revenue of $22.5bn (£16.6bn) compared to $22.64bn expected by Bloomberg consensus, a 12% drop compared with the $25.05bn reported a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $0.40 compared to expectations of $0.42, while operating income of $923m was also lower than the $1.23bn expected. "We continue to expand our vehicle offering, including first builds of a more affordable model in June, with volume production planned for the second half of 2025," the company said in a statement. Tesla also said its purpose-built robotaxi was still scheduled for volume production starting in 2026. Read more: Stocks rise amid hopes the EU and US will reach trade deal In an earnings call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the company could experience "a few rough quarters", when asked about the expiration of EV tax credits, with the Trump administration set to cut these incentives. Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Tesla's second quarter "numbers were objectively poor, but that was already expected, and shares were broadly flat on the initial release." "The typical playbook for the past few quarters has been declining fundamentals but enough AI hype to keep investors sleeping at night," said Britzman, who holds shares in Tesla. "The mid-single-digit swing came off the back of the earnings call as Elon Musk warned the tough times could continue into 2026." He added: "Tesla is in a very small cohort of companies with enough growth potential that investors are, for now at least, willing to look past weakening core financials. Last night's comments confirmed many fears around tariffs, rising costs, tougher margins, and struggling cash flows. But with that now firmly built in as the base case, the AI story can take back the wheel." Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) Fellow "Magnificent 7" tech giant Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) also reported after the market close on Wednesday, though its second quarter results topped Wall Street estimates, driving shares up more than 2% in pre-market trading on Thursday. Alphabet, Google's parent company, posted second quarter revenue of $96.43bn, beating expectations of $93.97bn. Earnings were $2.31 per share compared to a Bloomberg consensus estimate of $2.18. The company's outlook for capital expenditures (capex), however, was higher than expected. The tech giant expects to spend $85bn in the year, $10bn more than had been previously expected. Read more: Oil prices rise as trade deals take centre stage Ben Barringer, head of technology research at Quilter Cheviot, said: "Given the concerns around disruption from artificial intelligence and Chat GPT, Alphabet produced a really good set of numbers in its latest results. Revenues were up 15%, three percentage points better than expected and the search business delivered at the top of its range. The cloud business, meanwhile, was also a strong performer with revenues up 32% so it is encouraging to see the business growing strongly in the face of pressures." He said that the increase in its capex guidance "is a very solid raise and should be viewed as a positive, with investment looking to drive away the threat of Chat GPT". "Alphabet has been playing catch up somewhat in the AI arms race, but it is doing well to fend off the likes of Chat GPT," said Barringer. "The big question will be whether it can keep innovating at a pace that allows it to maintain its search monopoly. This boost in investment suggests the fight will continue." Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) Shares in Chipotle (CMG) slid nearly 10% in pre-market trading on Thursday, after the burrito chain missed expectations on same store sales and cut its forecast. Chipotle said in results released after the market close on Wednesday that same-store sales in the second quarter fell 4% compared to a Bloomberg consensus estimate of a 2.9% decline. Read more: Stocks that are trending today In addition, Chipotle said it now expected same store sales to be about flat for the year, compared to previous guidance of growth in the low single digit range. Second quarter revenue of $3.06bn was short of the expected $3.11bn, though adjusted earnings were in line with Wall Street expectations of $0.33 per share. BT (BT-A.L) On the London market, shares in BT (BT-A.L) popped 5% on Thursday morning, after the telecoms company said it was still on track to achieve full-year guidance despite posting a dip in revenue. BT posted total revenue of £4.88bn ($6.61bn) in the first quarter, which was down 3% on the same period last year. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at £2.05bn, which was 1% lower than the first quarter last year. Stocks: Create your watchlist and portfolio In a separate statement on Thursday, BT announced it had appointed Virgin Media O2 chief financial officer (CFO) Patricia Cobian to succeed Simon Lowth as the company's new CFO. Matt Dorset, equity research analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said: "BT's results continue to be fairly weak but in line with expectations. UK Service revenue was down 1.4% over the year as the consumer segment continues to lag. The business division also remains the weakest division with legacy sales continuing to hurt. Consequently, earnings were down 0.5%, but ahead of consensus, as BT impresses with its cost cutting and Openreach remaining strong." ITV (ITV.L) Shares in ITV (ITV.L) surged more than 7% on Thursday morning, after the broadcaster announced further cost cutting plans. In half-year results released on Thursday, ITV reported a 3% fall in total group revenue to £1.84bn compared to the same period last year. Profit before tax dropped 44% to £99m in the six months to 30 June compared to the first half of 2024. Read more: Lloyds increases dividend as profits jump by 5% ITV announced an additional £15m in permanent non-content cost savings, taking the total group permanent non-content savings in 2025 to £45m. The broadcaster added that there would be a one-off cost of £40m to achieve the total group savings. Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "This was always going to be a tricky set of earnings for ITV to deliver because of the strength of H1 2024 on the back of the Men's Euros which made for an unflattering year-on-year comparison. "Within that context ITV fared very well, delivering a smaller-than-expected drop in total ad revenues (down 7% vs forecasts for an 8% drop) and forecast topping earnings and revenue. Amid the broad, structural decline in linear TV advertising and changing TV viewing habits, ITV is pursuing a digital focussed strategy aiming to continue to deliver growth in digital ad revenues." Read more: Which Mag 7 stocks will be the top performers this earnings season? UK's rising debt cost puts Reeves and tax rises in spotlight London IPO fundraising slumps in blow to UKError in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Walmart bets on AI super agents to boost e-commerce growth
By Siddharth Cavale NEW YORK (Reuters) -Walmart unveiled plans on Thursday to roll out a suite of AI-powered "super agents" designed to improve the shopping experience for customers and streamline operations. The world's largest retailer said the four agents powered by agentic AI - designed for Walmart shoppers, store employees, suppliers and sellers, and software developers - would soon be the primary way people engage with Walmart. The super agents will be the entry point for every AI interaction these groups have with Walmart, replacing several existing agents and AI tools, along with new ones yet to be built, the company said. Walmart is betting on AI to drive its e-commerce growth, aiming for online sales to account for 50% of its total sales within five years. The company reported annual sales of $648 billion last year. By harnessing AI to streamline the shopping process - from discovering new products and helping with returns to improving delivery speeds - the retailer hopes it can attract more shoppers away from Amazon, which has also introduced a range of AI-powered tools for sellers and shoppers. Walmart's push comes as the short-term financial payoff of AI remains uncertain and concerns over how it might affect jobs across the industry. One of the agents, Sparky, is already available for shoppers on Walmart's app as a Gen-AI powered tool. Currently it assists customers with getting product suggestions for an athletic activity, finding the right ink for their printer, or summarizing product reviews, among other options. In its "super agent" form it will be able to reorder items, plan an event such as a "unicorn-themed party" and through computer vision be able to offer product recipes by just looking at the contents of a shopper's fridge, Hari Vasudev, Walmart's U.S. chief technology officer, said at an event in New York. Agentic AI is the next iteration of generative AI, in that it needs minimal human intervention to make decisions and achieve specific tasks. Walmart is also developing an "Associate" super agent, to be rolled out in the coming months, which will allow workers and corporate staff to do things such as submit an application for parental leave or give store managers immediate information on sales data for a certain category or a product with minimal input. Employees now use separate AI tools to handle those queries, a company spokesperson said. For sellers, suppliers, and advertisers, Walmart is developing a super agent called "Marty" to streamline the onboarding process, manage orders and create ad campaigns. It is also working on a "Developer" super agent, which will be the platform on which all future AI tools will be tested, built, and launched, the company said. "Agents can help automate and simplify pretty much everything that we do," Suresh Kumar, Walmart's chief technology officer said. He added that the company chose to launch these super agents now because "customers are ready, they are using AI in pretty much everything they do." The company declined to say whether the super agents would replace jobs. Dave Glick, senior vice president of enterprise business systems, said it would create new jobs without elaborating further. On Wednesday, Walmart had two AI-related announcements: it hired former Instacart executive Daniel Danker as executive vice president (EVP) for AI acceleration, product and design and created a new EVP, AI role that is yet to be filled. While retail has largely avoided AI-related layoffs, the tech industry has been hit hard, even in a historically strong market and resilient economy. In June, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said generative AI and agents will reduce its total corporate workforce over the next few years. Microsoft has emphasized that AI will boost productivity, but it has laid off thousands of employees, while Google has laid off hundreds of employees. Walmart has not linked any job cuts directly to AI, but it has been downsizing its corporate staff and is modernizing e-commerce fulfillment centers with automation, resulting in some workforce reductions. Sign in to access your portfolio
