United Airlines Blocks Unauthorized Third-Party AI Agents from Booking Platforms

United Airlines is restricting access to its digital platforms and to travel agencies and aggregators to prohibit unauthorized third-party AI agents or assistants. The airline cited data leakage, unintended purchases, and possible violations of federal airline rules, and it is updating its booking, ticketing, and distribution policies. It follows similar moves by Walmart, Target, and Amazon, and observers warn that the lack of industry standards for AI agents could make supporting many vendors' bots an open-ended IT burden.