After reporting a second-quarter earnings beat, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky shared his perspective on the company’s AI strategy. He cautioned investors against viewing AI chatbots as the “new Google,” emphasizing that while they may drive new leads to the travel and services business, they are not yet a full replacement for the referrals generated by traditional search engines.
Chesky explained that the industry is still exploring the potential of AI. He noted that AI models, such as those powering ChatGPT, are not proprietary, meaning companies like Airbnb can also leverage them through APIs or other available models. He stressed that simply having the best AI model isn’t enough—success depends on fine-tuning the model and designing a custom interface tailored to specific applications.
Airbnb is already putting AI to work in practical ways. The company revealed that its AI customer service agent in the U.S. has reduced the need for human intervention by 15%. This achievement was particularly challenging because customer service AI must be precise and reliable, unlike AI used for travel inspiration, where minor errors are more tolerable. The agent, built using 13 different models and trained on tens of thousands of conversations, is currently available in English in the U.S. Airbnb plans to expand it to more languages this year and enhance its capabilities next year, enabling it to handle tasks like canceling reservations or assisting with trip planning.
Looking ahead, Airbnb will integrate AI into its search functionality next year. While the company is open to collaborating with third-party AI agents, it has not finalized those plans. Chesky emphasized that users will still need an Airbnb account to make bookings, preventing AI from commoditizing the business as it has with flight bookings. Instead, he sees AI as a valuable tool for lead generation.
Despite beating analysts’ expectations with $3.1 billion in revenue and $1.03 earnings per share, Airbnb’s stock dipped due to a forecast of slower growth in the second half of the year.