Good Sunday afternoon from Manson, Washington . . . Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending Friday, January 30, 2026, is below. Accor garnered much of the travel industry’s attention this past week as it became the first lodging supplier to announce the launch of its own ChatGPT mobile app. Other headlines underscore
The Growing Role of AI Agents in Online Travel and ChatGPT’s Ad Plans
Good evening from the ALIS Conference in Los Angeles . . . Our travel-shortened Online Travel Update for the week ending January 23, 2026, is below. This week’s Update features a wide variety of stories, including updates on two stories we featured last week – Airbnb’s evolving hotel aspirations and investigations into Trip.com’s allegedly anti-competitive
A Defining Start to 2026 for Online Travel: China Probes Trip.com, Airbnb Expands Its Hotel Ambitions and Google Unveils Its Agentic Booking Protocol
Good Sunday evening from a sunny Seattle . . . Our first Online Travel Update for 2026 is below. This week’s Update features new stories on China’s possible crack down on Trip.com, an update on Airbnb and its plans for hotels and the latest from Google and its rapidly evolving agentic platform. I hope you
Crystal Ball Time – What Are the Regulatory and Policy Issues Broadcasters Should Be Expecting to Deal With in 2026?
It’s the start of another year, so it is time to dust off the crystal ball and look at what we expect to be the big regulatory and legislative issues facing broadcasters in the new year. Looking back on our forecast for 2025 that came out just over a year ago, I was surprised to
The Next Thing Knocking at Real Estate’s Door: Quantum Computing
The world has not yet fully explored the potential of artificial intelligence (AI), and yet another major technological wave is already forming on the horizon: quantum computing. While the transition from acknowledged potential to established, practical application of new quantum technologies remains underway, stakeholders in the real estate industry may soon see growing demand for
The FTC Walks Back Its Rytr Enforcement Action, Signaling a Shift in Federal AI Regulation
In a rare course correction, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reopened and vacated its 2024 consent order against Rytr LLC, a generative AI-powered company. The unusual move reflects a significant strategic reset of how federal regulators will approach AI technology, especially when alleged harms are hypothetical rather than concrete.
In 2024, the FTC filed
The Next Phase of Travel Distribution Rekindles Pricing and Parity Debates
Happy Monday evening from Seattle . . . Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending Friday, December 19, 2025, is below. This week’s Update features a heavy concentration of important legal updates on local Chinese efforts to investigate the practices of OTAs, the FTC’s newly announced investigation into Instacart and its alleged surveillance
Data License Restrictions in the AI Spotlight: Careful Drafting Is More Important Than Ever
A recently-filed federal court complaint tests the enforceability of restrictive terms in a data license against the use of licensed data for generative AI purposes. The outcome of this case may turn on interpreting broad terms such as training, internal research, distribution and publication.
UPDATE: On December 18, 2025, the court denied defendant Alexi Technologies
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: December 8, 2025 to December 12, 2025
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.
- The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau entered into a Consent Decree with a public broadcaster to resolve an investigation into whether false
AI Turns Up the Heat: OTAs Defend Their Turf as Big Tech Redraws the Map
Good Sunday afternoon from Seattle . . . Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending Friday, December 12, 2025, is below. This week’s Update includes a number of updates to stories we featured previously, including stories on the existential threat (or not) to OTAs posed by new AI platforms and the Trump administration’s