Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky plans to launch an artificial intelligence lab and has previously said the company is holding off on partnering with large-scale language model (LLM) providers because the technology isn’t mature enough, hinting at a broader AI strategy, according to Bloomberg.
Chesky is planning an AI model development business and is considering focusing on user interaction and design, according to a person familiar with the matter. The institute is still in the early stages of raising capital, and Chesky will continue to serve as Airbnb’s CEO, rather than head the new venture.
According to TechCrunch, Chesky has been involved in the AI industry for years, meeting and keeping in touch with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman through Y Combinator, the company that launched Airbnb in 2006. Once OpenAI took off, he began meeting regularly with Altman to advise him on running the rapidly growing technology company.
Read: Viral post targets Airbnb’s hiring practices amid visa debate (May 31, 2026)
Chesky was also reportedly being considered as a candidate for OpenAI’s board of directors, and served as an intermediary for Altman’s return to power after he was removed from the company’s board.
Chesky, who co-founded Airbnb nearly 20 years ago, has always said AI applications for travel and e-commerce need rich user interfaces, rather than the kind of text-based chatbots popularized by OpenAI and Anthropic.
Competitors such as Expedia Group Inc. and Booking Holdings Inc. have partnered with companies such as OpenAI to create plugins within ChatGPT, but Airbnb said the AI companies’ tools are not robust enough.
Read: OpenAI eyes $500 million acquisition of Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s new AI hardware startup (April 8, 2025)
According to Fortune, Chesky is currently transforming Airbnb into a “do-it-all” travel app, including new add-on services that he hopes could eventually bring in more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Chesky said in an interview last year that Airbnb employees are leveraging AI coding tools to accelerate expansion, and pilots for new businesses can be launched in weeks rather than years.
Airbnb recently reported first-quarter revenue of $2.27 billion, up 6% year-over-year and slightly above analysts’ expectations of $2.26 billion. The company also forecast second-quarter sales of $2.99 billion to $3.05 billion, compared to analyst expectations of $3.04 billion, and expects year-over-year growth in the Nights & Experiences segment to remain modest compared to the first quarter.
