Airbnb is prioritizing AI, starting with customer service, and making changes that will affect everything from how guests book properties to how hosts make their listings more competitive.
In Airbnb’s second-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, the vacation rental company reported that it beat expectations for revenue, which grew by 13% from the same period last year to $3.1 billion. CEO Brian Chesky predicted that Airbnb would become “an AI-first application” over the next few years in an earnings call following the report.
“I think you can’t do travel planning without AI going forward,” Chesky said on the call. “We’ve chosen a very specific way to approach AI.”
How Airbnb is using AI
On the call, Chesky said that some companies have chosen to incorporate AI into travel planning and inspiration, which he deemed “the lower stakes part of travel.” Airbnb, on the other hand, has started with what Chesky called “the hardest problem,” which is the task of customer service AI helping with travel plans.
“Customer service is the hardest problem because the stakes are high,” Chesky explained on the call. He pointed out that users need answers quickly, and the AI has to be accurate when handling tasks like canceling a reservation.
To tackle customer service, Chesky said Airbnb created a custom AI agent based on tens of thousands of conversations. It works like this: When users reach out to the AI agent to cancel a reservation, it not only knows how to do it but also taps into specific knowledge about which reservation the user wants to cancel.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo by Myunggu Han/Getty Images for Airbnb
In April, the company quietly started deploying the AI bot in the U.S. in English. Chesky said on Wednesday’s call that 15% fewer users need to talk to a human customer service representative after releasing the bot. The company plans to expand the agent to more languages this year and infuse it with advanced features, such as the ability to search and help users plan and book their next trip.
For hosts, Airbnb is exploring different ways to display pricing. In May, the company announced a new calendar for hosts with better pricing suggestions to help optimize the competitiveness of their listings.
Customer service is just one way Airbnb is going to become an AI-first app over the next few years. The company is also going to bring AI to travel search next year, Chesky stated on the call.
Airbnb has undergone a number of changes recently. In May, the company announced a revamped app with the option to book “Services” or experiences like massages, personal training, and beauty services. In the same month, Airbnb also introduced group messaging, expanding who can interact with an Airbnb host, and shared wishlists for users to bookmark their favorite rentals together.
Airbnb had more than five million hosts and 1.5 billion guest check-ins as of 2024, according to Statista.
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Airbnb is prioritizing AI, starting with customer service, and making changes that will affect everything from how guests book properties to how hosts make their listings more competitive.
In Airbnb’s second-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, the vacation rental company reported that it beat expectations for revenue, which grew by 13% from the same period last year to $3.1 billion. CEO Brian Chesky predicted that Airbnb would become “an AI-first application” over the next few years in an earnings call following the report.
“I think you can’t do travel planning without AI going forward,” Chesky said on the call. “We’ve chosen a very specific way to approach AI.”
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