Expedia buys Layla after $1B in trips planned

Expedia acquired Layla after the AI trip planner reported processing more than $1 billion in planned trip value across 30 million messages. Skift’s acquisition report says terms were not disclosed and Layla will keep operating, while Layla’s March disclosure counted more than 5 million users and 2 million generated trips. For operators watching AI search weaken rented discovery channels, the deal is another signal that marketplaces would rather own the conversational front door than wait for an external agent to intermediate demand.