Not only do Airbnb want to be “all apps,” but it also allows users to book literally everything from accommodation to experiences and services. I would like to make a reservation again.
Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky explained his vision for the travel app's AI-powerful future during the company's second quarter revenue call on Wednesday. Airbnb beat its second-quarter earnings expectations and announced a $6 billion share buyback, but expects it to slow the third-quarter growth. Stock decreased by more than 6% outside of business hours.
“I think what you're going to see over the next few years is that Airbnb will become an AI-first application,” Chesky told analysts in a call.
He added that “most” of the top 50 apps in the App Store, with the exception of Openai's ChatGPT, “most” are AI apps. However, he predicted that all of them would soon be either AI apps, AI startups or pre-generated AI apps that would successfully translate into “native AI” apps. That's the transformation he says is ongoing on Airbnb.
Chesky said Airbnb's approach to using AI is different from other travel companies in that it doesn't focus on using AI to provide travel planning and inspiration. Instead, the company deployed AI in customer service, custom agents were built based on 13 different models and trained in tens of thousands of conversations.
As a result of the AI Customer Service Chatbot, Airbnb said it reduced the number of hosts and guests who need to contact human agents by 15%.
Cesky said AI agents will be more personalized throughout the year and will be able to take more action on behalf of users.
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“In addition to explaining how to cancel a booking, you know which booking you want to cancel. You can cancel it and it can be an agent as it helps you find, book and book your next trip,” he added.
Airbnb declined to provide additional comments when Business Insider reached it.
In February, Chesky said in a call to Airbnb's fourth quarter revenues that he thought it was too early to use AI for travel planning, but he believed that AI would ultimately “have a major impact on travel.”
Chesky also said in February that he wanted to make Airbnb a one-stop shop for travel Amazon or “all travel and life needs.”
In May, Airbnb announced that it would launch Experience Business and Services. This allows users to book site professionals, such as photographers and massage therapists.
In a call Wednesday, Cesky said he was “very bullish” about the experience and that his feedback so far was positive.
Axel Springer, the parent company of Insider Inc., is an Airbnb investor.
