Ai Agents Aren’t The ‘new Google,’ Says Airbnb Ceo

After a second-quarter net beat, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky shared his thoughts connected nan company’s AI strategy, cautioning investors that AI chatbots can’t yet beryllium thought of arsenic nan “new Google.” That is, AI chatbots, while perchance driving caller leads to nan recreation and services business, aren’t wholly a replacement for nan referrals that nan ascendant hunt motor brings.

At slightest not astatine this time.

“I deliberation we’re still benignant of emotion retired nan space,” nan exec told investors connected nan Q2 net call. “The point I want to be aware is I don’t deliberation that AI agents — I don’t deliberation we should deliberation of chatbots for illustration Google — I don’t deliberation we should deliberation of them arsenic nan ‘new Google’ yet.”

This, Chesky explained, is because AI models aren’t “proprietary.”

“We besides person to retrieve that nan exemplary powering ChatGPT is not proprietary. It’s not exclusive to ChatGPT. We — Airbnb — tin besides usage nan API, and location are different models that we tin use,” he said.

Painting a broader image of nan AI landscape, Chesky said that successful summation to chatbots and different AI agents, location will beryllium custom-built startups designed for circumstantial applications, arsenic good arsenic different incumbents that person made nan displacement to AI.

“One of nan things we’ve noticed is it’s not capable to conscionable person … nan champion model. You person to beryllium capable to tune nan exemplary and build a civilization interface for nan correct application. And I deliberation that’s nan key,” he said.

The institution told investors it will look to return advantage of AI successful a number of ways.

Airbnb shared during nan telephone that its AI customer work supplier successful nan U.S. reduced nan percent of guests contacting a quality supplier by 15%, for instance. This was really harder than tackling nan lower-hanging consequence involving recreation readying and inspiration, Chesky said, because AI agents performing customer work can’t hallucinate. They person to beryllium capable to beryllium meticulous and adjuvant astatine each times.

Airbnb’s customer work supplier was built utilizing 13 different models and trained connected tens of thousands of conversations, and is presently disposable successful English successful nan U.S. This year, Airbnb will rotation it retired to much languages, and adjacent year, it will go much personalized and agentic. That intends it would beryllium capable to understand if personification reaches retired to cancel a reservation; it would not only beryllium capable to show them really to do so, but it could besides do it for them. The supplier could besides thief scheme and book trips.

Plus, AI will travel to Airbnb’s hunt adjacent year, nan CEO said.

However, nan institution has not afloat fleshed retired its plans for moving pinch third-party AI agents, though it’s considering it. Users still request an Airbnb relationship to make a booking.

Because of this, Chesky doesn’t deliberation agentic AI would move its business into a commodity, nan measurement that booking flights has become. Instead, he sees AI arsenic “potentially absorbing lead generation” for nan company.

“… I deliberation nan cardinal point is going to beryllium for america to lead and go nan first spot for group to book recreation connected Airbnb. As acold arsenic whether aliases not we merge pinch AI agents, I deliberation that’s thing that we’re surely unfastened to,” he said.

Airbnb hit analysts’ expectations successful nan 4th pinch gross of $3.1 cardinal and net per stock of $1.03, but nan banal dropped connected its forecast of slower maturation successful nan 2nd half of nan year.