AUSTIN — Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a $9.5 million settlement with Booking Holdings for allegedly deceptively marketing hotel room prices to consumers by omitting mandatory fees.
Paxton’s lawsuit against the company, which operates Booking.com, Priceline.com, and Kayak.com, alleged that Booking engaged in illegal practices by enticing consumers initially with artificially low room rates that were not actually available.
The lawsuit also argued that Booking obscured mandatory fees by grouping them with funds owed to the government as part of the “Taxes and Fees” line item at checkout, giving Booking an advantage over companies that were transparent in displaying the actual initial price of rooms.
“Deceiving Texans by hiding fees is both a deeply unethical business practice and a violation of the law. Yet, that’s exactly what Booking chose to do, and now it’s time for the company to pay for their unlawful actions,” said Paxton. “Texans deserve transparency when looking at prices, and there will be accountability for any company that chooses to unlawfully mislead consumers.”
The settlement’s terms require Booking to disclose any fees added on to a hotel room’s price upfront, allowing consumers to more efficiently shop and compare prices.
Investigation into Meta
On Aug. 19, Paxton announced that he has opened an investigation into artificial intelligence chatbot platforms, including Meta AI Studio and Character.AI, for potentially engaging in deceptive trade practices and misleadingly marketing themselves as mental health tools.
“In today’s digital age, we must continue to fight to protect Texas kids from deceptive and exploitative technology,” said Paxton. “By posing as sources of emotional support, AI platforms can mislead vulnerable users, especially children, into believing they’re receiving legitimate mental health care.
“In reality, they’re often being fed recycled, generic responses engineered to align with harvested personal data and disguised as therapeutic advice.”
This investigation follows an existing investigation into Character.AI for potential violations of the SCOPE Act and will help ensure that artificial intelligence tools are lawful, transparent, and not weaponized to take advantage of Texans.
