Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky: Big AI Changes for App

Airbnb is prioritizing AI, beginning with customer support, and making modifications that may have an effect on the whole lot from how company guide properties to how hosts make their listings extra aggressive.

In Airbnb’s second-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, the holiday rental firm reported that it beat expectations for income, which grew by 13% from the identical interval final 12 months to $3.1 billion. CEO Brian Chesky predicted that Airbnb would change into “an AI-first utility” over the subsequent few years in an earnings call following the report.

“I believe you may’t do journey planning with out AI going ahead,” Chesky mentioned on the decision. “We have chosen a really particular solution to method AI.”

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How Airbnb is utilizing AI

On the decision, Chesky mentioned that some corporations have chosen to include AI into journey planning and inspiration, which he deemed “the decrease stakes a part of journey.” Airbnb, then again, has began with what Chesky known as “the toughest drawback,” which is the duty of customer support AI serving to with journey plans.

“Customer support is the toughest drawback as a result of the stakes are excessive,” Chesky defined on the decision. He identified that customers want solutions rapidly, and the AI must be correct when dealing with duties like canceling a reservation.

To deal with customer support, Chesky mentioned Airbnb created a customized AI agent based mostly on tens of 1000’s of conversations. It really works like this: When customers attain out to the AI agent to cancel a reservation, it not solely is aware of learn how to do it but in addition faucets into particular information about which reservation the consumer desires to cancel.

^{Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photograph by Myunggu Han/Getty Photos for Airbnb}

In April, the corporate quietly started deploying the AI bot within the U.S. in English. Chesky mentioned on Wednesday’s name that 15% fewer customers want to speak to a human customer support consultant after releasing the bot. The corporate plans to develop the agent to extra languages this 12 months and infuse it with superior options, reminiscent of the power to go looking and assist customers plan and guide their subsequent journey.

For hosts, Airbnb is exploring alternative ways to show pricing. In Might, the corporate introduced a brand new calendar for hosts with higher pricing solutions to assist optimize the competitiveness of their listings.

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Customer support is only one manner Airbnb goes to change into an AI-first app over the subsequent few years. The corporate can be going to carry AI to journey search subsequent 12 months, Chesky acknowledged on the decision.

Airbnb has undergone various modifications lately. In Might, the corporate introduced a revamped app with the choice to guide “Companies” or experiences like massages, private coaching, and sweetness providers. In the identical month, Airbnb also introduced group messaging, increasing who can work together with an Airbnb host, and shared wishlists for customers to bookmark their favourite leases collectively.

Airbnb had greater than 5 million hosts and 1.5 billion visitor check-ins as of 2024, in accordance with Statista.

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