Global hospitality giant Airbnb is set to deeply integrate artificial intelligence into its platform, aiming to transform how users search for listings, plan trips, and receive support. During the company’s fourth-quarter conference call, CEO Brian Chesky announced a strategic push to utilize large language models (LLMs) to create a more intuitive and personalized user experience.
An AI-Native Vision
Chesky outlined a future where the Airbnb app evolves from a simple search tool into a comprehensive travel companion. The goal is to create an “AI-native experience” that anticipates user needs and personalizes the entire travel journey.
“We are building an AI-native experience where the app does not just search for you. It knows you,” Chesky stated. “It will help guests plan their entire trip, help hosts better run their businesses, and help the company operate more efficiently at scale.”
The initiative will be guided by Airbnb’s new CTO, Ahmad Al-Dahle, who previously worked on Meta’s Llama models. The company plans to leverage its vast repository of identity and review data to power these new AI features.
Reimagining Search and Discovery
Airbnb is already testing a feature allowing a small percentage of users to ask questions and search for properties using natural language queries. This is seen as the first step towards a fully conversational and intuitive search experience that extends beyond booking to trip planning.
When questioned about monetization, Chesky confirmed that while the immediate focus is on perfecting the user experience, sponsored property listings within the AI search are being considered for the future.
“Over time, we are gonna be experimenting with making AI search more conversational, integrating it into more than the trip, and, eventually, we will be looking at sponsor listings as a result of that,” he explained.
Enhancing Customer Support
The company has already seen success with its AI-powered customer support bot. Launched in North America last year, the bot now resolves a third of customer issues without human intervention.
Chesky detailed ambitious plans to expand this capability, aiming for the AI to handle a significantly higher percentage of support tickets across all languages where live agents are present. The evolution will also include a voice-based AI support system.
“A year from now, if we are successful… AI customer service will not only be chat, it will be voice,” he noted.
Why This Matters for MENA
For the MENA tech ecosystem, Airbnb’s AI strategy is a significant indicator of the future of travel tech. As the region’s tourism and hospitality sectors continue to boom, user expectations are increasingly shaped by global technology leaders.
Local and regional travel startups must take note of this shift towards hyper-personalization and AI-driven convenience. The move signals a new competitive benchmark where leveraging data and AI to create seamless, end-to-end travel experiences will become essential for capturing and retaining the modern, tech-savvy traveler. For VCs, this highlights the growing importance of investing in MENA-based travel tech companies that have a strong AI and data strategy at their core.
About Airbnb
Airbnb is a global online marketplace for lodging, primarily homestays for vacation rentals, and tourism activities. Founded in 2008, it connects hosts who want to rent out their properties with travelers seeking accommodations. The platform has since expanded to include unique experiences and adventures, fundamentally changing the travel and hospitality industry worldwide.
Source: TechCrunch
