Airbnb is prioritizing AI, beginning with customer support, and making modifications that can have an effect on all the things from how visitors guide properties to how hosts make their listings extra aggressive.
In Airbnb’s second-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, the holiday rental firm reported that it beat expectations for income, which grew by 13% from the identical interval final yr to $3.1 billion. CEO Brian Chesky predicted that Airbnb would turn out to be “an AI-first software” over the following few years in an earnings name following the report.
“I believe you possibly can’t do journey planning with out AI going ahead,” Chesky stated on the decision. “We have chosen a really particular solution to strategy AI.”
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How Airbnb is utilizing AI
On the decision, Chesky stated that some corporations have chosen to include AI into journey planning and inspiration, which he deemed “the decrease stakes a part of journey.” Airbnb, alternatively, has began with what Chesky known as “the toughest drawback,” which is the duty of customer support AI serving to with journey plans.
“Customer support is the toughest drawback as a result of the stakes are excessive,” Chesky defined on the decision. He identified that customers want solutions shortly, and the AI must be correct when dealing with duties like canceling a reservation.
To sort out customer support, Chesky stated Airbnb created a customized AI agent primarily based on tens of hundreds of conversations. It really works like this: When customers attain out to the AI agent to cancel a reservation, it not solely is aware of find out how to do it but additionally faucets into particular data about which reservation the consumer needs to cancel.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photograph by Myunggu Han/Getty Photos for Airbnb
In April, the corporate quietly began deploying the AI bot within the U.S. in English. Chesky stated on Wednesday’s name that 15% fewer customers want to speak to a human customer support consultant after releasing the bot. The corporate plans to develop the agent to extra languages this yr and infuse it with superior options, comparable to the power to go looking and assist customers plan and guide their subsequent journey.
For hosts, Airbnb is exploring other ways to show pricing. In Might, the corporate introduced a brand new calendar for hosts with higher pricing options to assist optimize the competitiveness of their listings.
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Customer support is only one approach Airbnb goes to turn out to be an AI-first app over the following few years. The corporate can also be going to deliver AI to journey search subsequent yr, Chesky said on the decision.
Airbnb has undergone various modifications not too long ago. In Might, the corporate introduced a revamped app with the choice to guide “Providers” or experiences like massages, private coaching, and wonder companies. In the identical month, Airbnb additionally launched group messaging, increasing who can work together with an Airbnb host, and shared wishlists for customers to bookmark their favourite leases collectively.
Airbnb had greater than 5 million hosts and 1.5 billion visitor check-ins as of 2024, in keeping with Statista.
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Airbnb is prioritizing AI, beginning with customer support, and making modifications that can have an effect on all the things from how visitors guide properties to how hosts make their listings extra aggressive.
In Airbnb’s second-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, the holiday rental firm reported that it beat expectations for income, which grew by 13% from the identical interval final yr to $3.1 billion. CEO Brian Chesky predicted that Airbnb would turn out to be “an AI-first software” over the following few years in an earnings name following the report.
“I believe you possibly can’t do journey planning with out AI going ahead,” Chesky stated on the decision. “We have chosen a really particular solution to strategy AI.”
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