Airbnb is prioritizing AI, beginning with customer support, and making adjustments that may have an effect on every thing from how friends 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 grow to be “an AI-first software” over the subsequent few years in an earnings name following the report.
“I believe you possibly can’t do journey planning with out AI going ahead,” Chesky mentioned on the decision. “We have chosen a really particular approach to strategy AI.”
How Airbnb is utilizing AI
On the decision, Chesky mentioned that some firms have chosen to include AI into journey planning and inspiration, which he deemed “the decrease stakes a part of journey.” Airbnb, then again, has began with what Chesky referred to as “the toughest downside,” which is the duty of customer support AI serving to with journey plans.
“Customer support is the toughest downside 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 deal with customer support, Chesky mentioned Airbnb created a customized AI agent based mostly 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 how one can do it but in addition faucets into particular information about which reservation the person needs to cancel.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Picture by Myunggu Han/Getty Pictures for Airbnb
In April, the corporate quietly began deploying the AI bot within the U.S. in English. Chesky mentioned 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 increase the agent to extra languages this yr and infuse it with superior options, resembling the flexibility to go looking and assist customers plan and guide their subsequent journey.
For hosts, Airbnb is exploring other ways to show pricing. In Could, the corporate introduced a brand new calendar for hosts with higher pricing strategies to assist optimize the competitiveness of their listings.
Customer support is only one method Airbnb goes to grow to be an AI-first app over the subsequent few years. The corporate can be going to carry AI to journey search subsequent yr, Chesky said on the decision.
Airbnb has undergone numerous adjustments lately. In Could, the corporate introduced a revamped app with the choice to guide “Companies” or experiences like massages, private coaching, and wonder providers. 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 response to Statista.
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Airbnb is prioritizing AI, beginning with customer support, and making adjustments that may have an effect on every thing from how friends 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 grow to be “an AI-first software” over the subsequent few years in an earnings name following the report.
“I believe you possibly can’t do journey planning with out AI going ahead,” Chesky mentioned on the decision. “We have chosen a really particular approach to strategy AI.”
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