Airbnb plans to bake in AI features for search, discovery and support

Source: TechCrunch

AI‑Native Experience and Upcoming Features

Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky announced that the company will embed large‑language‑model (LLM) capabilities throughout its app to improve search, trip planning, host tools, and internal operations.

“We are building an AI‑native experience where the app does not just search for you. It knows you. It will help guests plan their entire trip, help hosts better run their businesses, and help the company operate more efficiently at scale.”

AI‑Powered Search

• Airbnb is testing a natural‑language search feature that lets users ask questions about properties and locations.
• The feature is currently live for a small percentage of traffic and will evolve into a more conversational, comprehensive search experience that spans the entire trip.
• Chesky indicated that sponsored listings may eventually be integrated into the conversational flow, but the design and user experience will be finalized first.

AI Customer Support

• The company already offers an LLM‑driven customer‑service bot in North America, which handles about one‑third of inquiries without human intervention.
• Plans include enabling voice calls to the AI bot and expanding language coverage so that AI can assist in all languages where live agents are available.
• Chesky projected that within a year, a significantly larger share of tickets—well beyond 30%—will be resolved by AI agents.

Internal AI Adoption

• Approximately 80 % of Airbnb engineers currently use AI tools; the goal is to reach 100 % adoption.

Financial Highlights

• Airbnb reported fourth‑quarter revenue of $2.78 billion, a 12 % year‑over‑year increase, surpassing expectations.

Leadership and Expertise

• New CTO Ahmad Al‑Dahle, who previously worked on Meta’s Llama models, will help leverage Airbnb’s identity and review data to enhance the AI experience.

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For more details on Airbnb’s AI‑powered customer support, see the original TechCrunch article: AI‑powered customer support.