Booking CEO Glenn Fogel Talks EU Tech Regulation

Summary

Bloomberg Talks: Booking CEO Glenn Fogel Talks EU Tech Regulation

Date: November 18, 2025
Host: Steven (Bloomberg)
Guest: Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings (booking.com, Priceline, OpenTable, etc.)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Bloomberg's Steven sits down with Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings, to discuss the impact of evolving European Union (EU) technology regulations, particularly concerning artificial intelligence (AI) and digital market rules. Fogel shares how these regulations affect Booking's global business, the competitive landscape vis-à-vis US and Asian rivals, and his perspective on balancing innovation with regulatory compliance. The conversation offers a nuanced view into the challenges tech-focused travel companies face in adapting to complex, sometimes contradictory, international regulatory environments.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Complexity and Impact of EU Tech Regulations

• Global Regulatory Disparities:
  • Fogel highlights that Booking Holdings, being a global company, must navigate a minefield of different tech regulations across markets.
  • Quote (Glenn Fogel, 02:38):

    “Different regulatory environments create different problems. And one of our problems right now is with EU rules that are more stringent and more complicated and require a tremendous amount of money investment for us versus some of our competitors around the world that are not subjected to the same rules.”

• Competitive Disadvantages:
  • Regulations place Booking and similar European or Europe-facing companies at a competitive disadvantage against global rivals not bound by the same rules.

2. The Double-Edged Sword of AI Regulation

• Access to Cutting-Edge Tech:
  • Steven probes whether rules are too burdensome or if not enough companies are covered.
  • Fogel replies that the lack of clarity and uneven application may prevent European engineers from accessing the latest tech tools.
  • Quote (Glenn Fogel, 03:37):

    “The issue is the people who create these new technologies are concerned about being in...sort of liability issue.”

  • Big AI developers hesitate to bring products to Europe, fearing regulatory consequences—impacting Booking Holdings and local innovation.
• The Perceived Risk from AI Vendors:
  • Quote (Glenn Fogel, 04:54):

    “Every single AI creator always has to be thinking in the back of their head, should I bring this to Europe right now or not? Is this allowed or not?”

3. Regulation vs. Innovation – The Core Dilemma

• Public Attitudes:
  • Steven references a YouGov survey where most European respondents favored regulation even at the cost of innovation (05:23).
• Balancing Safety and Competitiveness:
  • Fogel agrees on the need for safe tech, but warns against hampering European competitiveness and innovation.
  • Quote (Glenn Fogel, 05:42):

    “The problem is the world is not one set of rules...How together do we create up with rules that will be able to match up with rules in other parts of the world?”

4. Tangible Consequences for Business and Jobs

• Opportunity Cost:
  • Fogel elaborates on real-world business impact: falling behind in personalization features, potential sales and job losses.
  • Quote (Glenn Fogel, 07:03):

    “If they come to us and they do not see the same benefits, the same ease of use, the same personalization...we may not get that sale. In the long run...Companies in the European area cannot compete. Instead of hiring more people, we end up having to let people go instead.”

• Resource Allocation:
  • Booking is spending millions on regulatory compliance instead of hiring or tech investment (08:47).
  • Quote (Glenn Fogel, 08:47):

    “We are incredibly disadvantaged by the DMA and the DSA...it's costing us huge amounts, millions and millions of euros that we could be spending on hiring people, technology, building new things.”

5. The Process of Advocacy and Hope for Change

• Engagement with Policymakers:
  • Booking is actively engaging with legislators to explain the unintended consequences of the regulations.
  • Quote (Glenn Fogel, 08:43):

    “Some people say that...your strategy should not be just hope...what we're doing is we're talking with everyone we can in government to make sure they [understand] the complications.”

• Hope for Rule Simplification:
  • Fogel expresses hope—but not certainty—that rule simplification is coming (08:41).
    • Quote (Glenn Fogel, 08:41):

      “I'm hopeful. How about that?”

6. AI in Travel – Adoption and Consumer Experience

• Booking’s AI Initiatives:
  • Booking has an AI trip planner; Fogel personally uses large language models but stresses caution.
  • Quote (Glenn Fogel, 10:27):

    “I use a lot of the large language models for myself, my own travel. And we have great things. At booking.com, we have an AI trip planner...I also do check, though. I do check to make sure everything’s exactly right.”

• Personalization Barriers:
  • Regulatory barriers limit deeper personalization, especially due to Booking’s brand structure.
  • Quote (Glenn Fogel, 11:08):

    “I would love for our AI trip planner...to know every single thing about me...Well, there’s a problem, actually, in some of the regulations that makes that more difficult for us because we have different brands...and that’s problematic.”

7. Consent as a Regulatory Principle

• Consent Issues:
  • Fogel supports strong consent principles in data use, but reiterates the operational challenge they create.
  • Quote (Glenn Fogel, 11:50):

    “Consent is great. I’m in favor of consent. Nothing wrong with that.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Unintended Consequences (08:47):
  “One of the most powerful laws really is the law of the unintended consequences...sometimes there isn’t enough thought into that.”
• On Competitive Disadvantages (04:51):
  “[Big AI companies] are not giving [cutting-edge technology] over to our engineers to be able to do things and play with and learn. Well, that puts us at a big disadvantage...”
• On Balancing Tech and Regulation (05:42):
  “We all agree we want to have safe technology. Nobody disagrees with that. And then you come up, on the other hand, we don’t want to end up far behind other countries.”

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Important Timestamps

• 01:42 – Steven introduces the topic and Glenn Fogel.
• 02:38 – Fogel outlines challenges of EU regulatory complexity.
• 04:54 – On why AI firms hesitate to launch in Europe.
• 05:42 – Fogel on balancing regulation and innovation.
• 07:03 – The opportunity cost for Booking Holdings.
• 08:47 – Regulatory compliance diverts millions from tech and hiring.
• 10:27 – How Booking uses AI, and remaining cautious.
• 11:08 – Personalization limits due to brand structure and privacy rules.
• 11:50 – Fogel supports strong consent for data use.

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Tone and Language

The conversation is candid, practical, and tinged with both concern and optimism. Fogel mixes technical insight with business realities, pushing for regulatory clarity while acknowledging the need for safety and consent. The tone reflects both the strategic anxieties of a global tech CEO and a constructive approach to engaging with policymakers.

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This summary covers the interview content and omits sponsor advertisements and idle chatter for clarity and focus.

Transcript

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[Interviewer Steven]

Podcasts Radio News European technology regulations remain at the center of the trade talks between the EU and US as they move to implement their deal reached over this summer. Tomorrow, the European Commission is due to set out changes to its rules on data protection and artificial intelligence. They're meant to ease the regulatory burden and boost competitiveness. Well, joining me now in the Brussels radio studio to discuss is Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking holdings, which is the company that owns booking.com, priceline, OpenTable and more. Glenn, good morning. Great to see you in Brussels. This is it's interesting to talk to you because you are one of those companies that is designated as a big platform by the EU for its regulatory purposes. We often think of perhaps the Googles or the Microsofts of this world, but you are a company that many people will have had interactions with while booking travel or restaurants. As it may have been involved, the European Commission says it wants to simplify its digital rules. Is this something that you're excited about? Is going to help you to grow Your company.

[Glenn Fogel]

Well, thanks for having me, Steven. It is an interesting time indeed. And you're right, we are an incredible user of technology. And we also are, of course, regulated by all the new AI rules that are coming into place. And that can be very complex, particularly because we are a very global company. Booking.com is one of the largest travel companies in the world. And as such, we have to deal with business around the world. And different regulatory environments create different problems. And one of our problems right now is with EU rules that are more stringent and more complicated and require a tremendous amount of money investment for us versus some of our competitors around the world that are not subjected to the same rules. They get a competitive advantage, and that's very disadvantageous to us here in Europe trying to build a very competitive business.

[Interviewer Steven]

So from your point of view, is it a question that not enough companies are being covered by these regulations, or is it the rules are too onerous?

[Glenn Fogel]

Well, I think there's a lot of things going on right now. First of all, the rules are complex, not well understood. There's contradictions. There's issues of nobody sure exactly what does it mean in terms of our own businesses, so that right away can be problematic. But certainly the issue of having our competitors who are about the same size, not subjected to the same rules, that can be very disadvantageous. So, for example, I have engineers here in Amsterdam who are doing tremendous, great work. But if they can't get the cutting edge technology that the stuff that's right out front, because the people who create this, the giant hyperscalers, don't want to bring it to Europe right now because they're concerned about the rules in Europe. So they're not giving it over to our engineers to be able to do things and play with and learn. Well, that puts us at a big disadvantage to a giant player in the US Like Expedia is one of our big competitors, or Airbnb is one of our big competitors, or the Chinese company trip.com they're a big competitor. They all can get that stuff. Our engineers may not be able to get it. And because it's. There's no rule per se, but the issue is the people who create these, create these new technologies are concerned about being in Li and sort of liability issue.

[Interviewer Steven]

Which companies are afraid then to be selling those products into Europe?

[Glenn Fogel]

Well, I think every single. I think every single AI creator always has to be thinking in the back of their head, should I bring this to Europe right now or not? Is this allowed or not? Look, we all saw that when OpenAI first brought out ChatGPT, you must remember when Italy said, oh, we don't want that right now. Do you remember that? Well, that continues on and on and on. Where the concern is, as these new technologies are developed, the people creating it look at the EU and they look at the European regulation and they are concerned.

[Interviewer Steven]

Well, the interesting thing is that we spoke to YouGov recently about a survey they did across nine European countries. Overwhelmingly, the people they spoke to supported regulation of AI, even if that came at a cost of innovation. I wonder, in the conversations that you're having with European regulators, how are you putting your points forward to them and do you feel you're being listened to?

[Glenn Fogel]

So this is a very complex problem here. We all agree we want to have safe technology. Nobody disagrees with that. And then you come up, on the other hand, we don't want to end up far behind other countries and we don't want to end up not having great innovation that helps society too. So it's a balancing issue. The problem is the world is not one set of rules. So how do we work here in Europe? How together do we create up with rules that will be able to match up with rules in other parts of the world? And that is something that unfortunately, we as a global company have to deal with, but we cannot, we cannot change. Governments have to make these rules, but we can give advice. We can work with our legislature, our different members of members of parliament, and ways to try and help them understand the difficulties that we are facing.

[Interviewer Steven]

Can you give us a concrete example of a difficulty you're. You're facing that you're bringing up in your conversations while you're here in Brussels?

[Glenn Fogel]

Well, the one I just brought up right now, the fact that in terms of new technologies and AI, agentic AI that's coming in, will we be allowed to use certain types of personalization or not versus our competitors may be able to do that. We get some very technical things.

[Interviewer Steven]

But what's the opportunity cost? I suppose if you do that, what does that mean for your business?

[Glenn Fogel]

Well, it ends up we're in one of the most competitive industries in the world. Travel is by far an area where people know that they get lots of different opportunities to do their travel. And if they come to us and they do not see the same benefits, the same ease of use, the same personalization that is shown by one of our competitors, we may not get that sale. And that's very. In the long run, what you end up with is that we'll end up with Companies in the, in the European area cannot compete. Instead of hiring more people, we end up having to let people go instead, and that'd be very detrimental for the economies overall.

[Interviewer Steven]

I mentioned Donald Trump's criticism of European tech regulation. We know it's a subject of discussion in the ongoing talks between the EU and the US Does Donald Trump making criticism like that help your case? Do you agree with him on some of the changes that need to be made?

[Glenn Fogel]

Well, I won't. I won't comment on what the US President has said or not, so I'll see more generalities. The fact is I understand completely the need for regulations, but also understand they need to be smart regulations. They need to be done in a way that enables companies to continue to develop new technologies, will make better things for society, and that's what we're doing. Travel is a wonderful thing. People love travel. We want to continue to create a way that it's easier. Our business, the use of technology is huge. We have incredible number of people working all the time. But if the rules are such that we cannot compete, that will be detrimental to the entire European Community.

[Interviewer Steven]

Given this process that's underway, simplification, you know, adapting these digital rules, are you confident that the rules will change?

[Glenn Fogel]

I'm hopeful. How about that?

[Interviewer Steven]

Okay, and what, what are you basing that hope on?

[Glenn Fogel]

Some people say that, you know, your strategy, your strategy should not be just hope, and that's true. So what we're doing is we're talking with everyone we can in government to make sure they the complications. Look, one of the most powerful laws really is the law of the unintended consequences. And when new laws, new rules are put into place, really working people, so they understand what the consequences of these rules or laws will be going forward. And I think sometimes there isn't enough thought into that. And I'll give examples. Right now, we are incredibly disadvantaged by the DMA and the dsa. Now we are fully in favor of supporting them. We follow all the rules. We're doing everything. And it's costing us huge amounts, millions and millions, Millions and millions of euros that we could be spending on hiring people, technology, building new things. Instead, we're spending it on the regulatory framework. The problem is our competitors who are not subjected by these same rules, even though we are competing for the same customers, they are not, and that is problematic.

[Interviewer Steven]

Would you be hiring those people in Europe, though? Because the talent for AI in a lot of cases is in the US as well.

[Glenn Fogel]

So booking.com was born in Amsterdam, a small thing. We have over 7,000 employees. We are continuing to hire. Look, I would like to hire even more, but the hire more requires the capital to do it and the resources that you want to put in. Instead of putting it into regulations, we would put it into technology. Hiring more people, that'd be great. But I. Look, I recognize the need to have good regulatory frameworks.

[Interviewer Steven]

I want to ask you a little bit about the technology behind the travel as well, though. We're seeing, of course, you're using AI in the company more and more as well. Are you trusting AI to make your travel plans now?

[Glenn Fogel]

Already, you know, there's that old saying of trust but verify. I think that's something everybody should absolutely do. Look, I use. I use a lot of the large language models for myself, my own travel. And we have great things. At booking.com, we have an AI trip planner, which is a great way to use technology to find an easier way to come up with a holiday. I also do check, though. I do check to make sure everything's exactly right and using other sorts. And I think people should continue to do that until such time that we really feel everything is at a level that you don't need to do that. I think that's some way down the down the future.

[Interviewer Steven]

Are you still sharing travel recommendations with people rather than necessarily directing them to the technology?

[Glenn Fogel]

Well, we will, you know, look, we'll continue to give great recommendations. One of the things about AI that really is remarkable is how it comes up with things you may not have thought of before. And look, we go back to the issue of personalization. I would love for our AI trip planner at booking.com to know every single thing about me. Remember everything about me, use everything about me within all cool parts of our business. It's not just the booking for the hotel, but the flights, the car rental, everything that we're bringing together. Well, there's a problem, actually, in some of the regulations that makes that more difficult for us because we have different brands that do the car rental, let's say, and that's problematic.

[Interviewer Steven]

I'm sure the European regulators argue that it's about consent as well, from people who want to share that sort of information.

[Glenn Fogel]

Consent is great. I'm in favor of consent. Nothing wrong with that, Glenn.

[Interviewer Steven]

We'll have to leave it there. CEO of Booking Holdings, Glenn Fogel. Thank you very much for joining us in Brussels.

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