Airbnb is getting ready to introduce AI technology, but not in the way people might have expected initially. Instead of providing tools to assist travelers in planning or booking their trips with the help of AI agents, Airbnb will first implement AI in its customer support system. The update is set to launch later this summer, as per what the company disclosed to investors during its Q4 2024 earnings call on Thursday.
According to Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky, AI is incredibly useful for customer service because it can communicate in any language and comprehend thousands of pages of documents. Initially, the AI will function as a customer service agent, with its capabilities expanding over time. While companies like OpenAI, Google, and others are developing AI agents, Chesky believes that the technology is still premature for Airbnb. Nevertheless, he anticipates that AI will significantly impact travel in the future, even though no major changes have occurred for the big travel platforms so far.
Chesky stated, “I think it’s still really early. It’s probably similar to… the mid-to-late ’90s for the internet.” He acknowledged the ongoing efforts by other companies to integrate AI into trip planning but expressed his belief that AI trip planning isn’t quite ready for mainstream use yet.
As AI technology progresses, Airbnb plans to incorporate the AI-powered customer service agent into Airbnb’s search functionality and eventually evolve it into a “travel and living concierge,” outlined Chesky. Apart from customer service, the company noted marginal productivity gains from employing AI internally for engineering purposes. However, Chesky exercised caution, stating that he doesn’t believe there has been a significant increase in productivity just yet.
Although Airbnb did not specify whether its use of AI would affect its workforce, CFO Ellie Mertz hinted at the potential for increased efficiencies in customer service, especially internally. The company’s strong Q4 earnings, which exceeded expectations, led to a 15% rise in shares. Airbnb generated $2.48 billion in revenue in the quarter, surpassing estimates of $2.42 billion, with earnings per share of 73 cents, higher than the expected 58 cents.
