Airbnb is shipping new features faster thanks to AI
What's the story
Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky has revealed that artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a major role in accelerating the company's product development. During the company's second-quarter earnings call, Chesky said AI has helped reduce the time taken from concept to launch by as much as 60%. He also noted that this year, Airbnb has shipped nearly 80% more features and improvements than during the same period last year.
Operational efficiency
Improvements in operations
Chesky highlighted that AI has improved various aspects of Airbnb's operations, including search, sign-up, checkout, and payments.
The company has also introduced features to improve the onboarding process for hosts.
However, the adoption of consumer-facing AI features has been slow and limited to functions like review summaries and listing highlights.
Travel innovation
AI for search and discovery
Chesky has been vocal about the limitations of a chatbot-like interface for travel use cases.
Instead, Airbnb is focusing on developing AI for search, discovery, and support.
The company is now testing this new AI search feature with a toggle option for users who prefer the current search and filter feature on the app.
Support enhancement
AI in customer support
Airbnb has also heavily relied on AI for customer support.
The company launched its AI-powered bot in North America in 2025 and expanded it to over 50 languages this year.
Chesky said nearly 45% of the customer issues that start with its AI agent are resolved without human intervention, leading to a 16% year-over-year reduction in the company's support cost per booking.