(Reuters) – US Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday that the department has concerns over the use of AI.
Last week, Delta Air Lines told lawmakers they were not using and not using AI to set prices for individual consumers. “We can assure you that someone will do that, in order to try to personalize seat pricing based on how much you make or not, and who you are,” Duffy said. “If any of the companies try to use AI to set individual seat prices, we're very involved.”
Duffy said that Delta has made it clear that it will not use AI to price individual tickets.
Late last month, Democrats, Senators Ruben Gallego, Mark Warner and Richard Blumental said they believe the Atlanta-based airline will use AI to set individual prices.
Delta previously said in a partnership with AI pricing company Fetcherr, it plans to deploy AI-based revenue management technology to 20% of its domestic network by the end of 2025.
Fetchel, the website, says its technology is “trusted by some of the world's leading airlines,” listing Delta, WestJet, Virgin Atlantic, Viva and Azul.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said last month that using AI to set ticket prices could undermine consumer confidence.
Democrats Greg Kasar and Rashida Tribe have introduced laws that prohibit the use of AI to set prices or wages based on American personal data, and will prohibit airlines from raising their personal prices, particularly after seeing searches for family obituaries.
Delta said airlines have used dynamic pricing for over 30 years, with pricing fluctuating based on a variety of factors, including overall customer demand, fuel prices and competition, but not personal information for a particular consumer.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
