While tech giants could technically replicate Perplexity, their core business models—advertising for Google, e-commerce for Amazon—create a fundamental conflict of interest. An independent player can align purely with the user's best interests, creating a strategic opening that incumbents are structurally unable to fill without cannibalizing their primary revenue streams.

The threat of AI disintermediating platforms like Booking.com is mitigated by immense operational complexity. AI firms are unlikely to want to manage global payment systems, customer service for bad travel experiences, and fragmented supplier relationships, just as Google previously avoided these challenges.

Google's mission to 'organize the world's information' creates a natural, logical pathway to diverse products like Maps and Waymo. In contrast, Meta's mission to 'bring people together' makes its leaps into less-connected fields like VR or generative AI feel more forced and less authentic.

Google has caught up in AI technology, but its biggest hurdle is strategic. Integrating generative AI threatens its core search advertising model, which accounts for 80% of revenue. This creates an innovator's dilemma where they must carefully disrupt themselves without destroying their cash cow.

While other AI companies are hesitant, Google is expected to lead LLM ad integration. As a company built on ads, it is culturally positioned to implement monetization quickly and effectively, unlike competitors that may view ads as a necessary evil rather than a core competency.

Jonathan Tepper's fund targets companies with limited competition, favoring "natural monopolies" like Booking.com over regulated utilities. These platforms succeed by creating immense value for both consumers (choice, convenience) and suppliers (global reach, payment processing), building a durable, non-regulated moat.

Fears of AI disintermediating platforms like Booking.com may be overblown. AI agents would need to replicate decades of user ratings, global payment infrastructure, and deep supplier relationships from scratch—a monumental task that makes it more likely incumbents will simply integrate AI themselves.

Instead of competing with giants like Airbnb in a capital-intensive B2C market, Lodgerin targets institutions like universities and corporations. This B2B approach provides a more financially sustainable path to growth by focusing on service quality rather than burning cash on mass-market customer acquisition.

AI travel agents will likely focus on top-of-funnel search but will still need an aggregator like Amadeus to access complex, fragmented industry data. Amadeus's core IT backbone remains mission-critical in any AI-driven travel world, securing its position.