A recent lawsuit in California accuses the hotel industry of engaging in price-fixing through the use of AI software. The case alleges that major hotel chains such as Hilton, Wyndham and Four Seasons collaborated to artificially inflate prices for consumers by sharing non-public pricing data through AI software developed by Integrated Decisions and Systems (IDeaS). This lawsuit follows a trend of similar cases targeting landlords for using software to drive up rental prices. The plaintiffs claim that the use of IDeaS’ software created an illegal horizontal conspiracy to fix prices, resulting in higher hotel rates despite no corresponding increase in demand. The lawsuit names popular hotel brands like Hyatt, Hilton, and Four Seasons, as well as conglomerates with subsidiaries like Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Econo Lodge, and Comfort. The complaint alleges that the accused firms utilized IDeaS as a revenue management system capable of analyzing millions of bookings for hotel rooms daily. Critics argue that this pricing strategy is unethical and harms consumers by artificially inflating prices.
A recent lawsuit filed in California accuses major hotel chains including Hilton, Wyndham, and Four Seasons of engaging in illegal price-fixing using artificial intelligence software. The complaint alleges that the chains shared non-public pricing data with each other through software created by Integrated Decisions and Systems (IDeaS), resulting in inflated prices for consumers. This lawsuit mirrors similar allegations made in proposed class action lawsuits against landlords, where software was used to illegally raise rent prices. The plaintiffs argue that by sharing sensitive pricing information, the hotel chains were able to achieve supra-competitive prices, which is considered an illegal horizontal conspiracy between competitors. The lawsuit names popular brands like Hyatt, Hilton, and Four Seasons, along with subsidiaries like Quality Inn and Comfort. The plaintiffs claim that the hotel chains used IDeaS as a revenue management system capable of analyzing pricing for thousands of bookings daily, resulting in record high room rates despite no corresponding increase in demand. This legal action highlights the potential misuse of AI technology in setting prices and its impact on consumers.
Source link
Hyatt, Hilton Among Those Accused of Price-Fixing In New Antitrust Suit

Untitled design 2024 05 01T150843.120 1024x576