Kayak has launched a new platform to test artificial intelligence and to create new capabilities for travelers that will then become part of its main site.
The company described Kayak.ai as a “test lab for AI-first features that’ll make our product even more personalized and conversational" and said it sets itself apart from other tools by offering real-time pricing in conversational search, as opposed to using cached data.
“On our traditional site and app, we don’t yet have a full picture of travelers’ intent,” Kayak said in news release. “But with Kayak.ai and conversational search, the game changes. We’ll have a lot more context to understand the details of a search and therefore can provide even more relevant and helpful results.”
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In a LinkedIn post announcing the news, Kayak CEO Steve Hafner encouraged users to try Kayak.ai and provide feedback.
“Every prompt makes us smarter,” he wrote.
The tool will also help move Kayak closer to agentic AI that knows and recognizes travelers’ habits and preferences and provides access to trip modifications and customer support, the company said.
AI isn’t new for Kayak, either. The metasearch engine introduced several new tools in March 2024, including Kayak Price Check, which uses image recognition to offer price comparisons from screenshots, and Ask Kayak, a natural language search tool that provides personalized travel planning. Notably, Kayak was also one of the first travel brands to create a plug-in for ChatGPT.