AI agents aren’t the ‘new Google,’ says Airbnb CEO

After a win in the second quarter defeatAirbnb CEO Brian Chesky shared his thoughts about the company’s AI strategy and warned investors that AI chatbots cannot yet be considered the ‘new Google’. That is, AI chatbots, although it may lead new to the travel and services business, they are not entirely a replacement for the references that the dominant search engine entails.

At least not at the moment.

“I think we still feel a kind of space,” the Exec told investors during the income call of Q2. “What I want to warn is that I don’t think AI agents – I don’t think we should think of chatbots like Google – I don’t think we’ll still consider them as the” new Google “.”

This, Chesky explains, is because AI models are not ‘own’.

“We must also remember that the model that chatgpt power is not owned. It is not exclusive for chatgpt. We – Airbnb – can also use the API, and there are other models that we can use,” he said.

Chesky paints a broader picture of the AI landscape and said that in addition to chatbots and other AI agents, tailor-made startups have been designed for specific applications, as well as other established operators who have made the switch to AI.

“One of the things we have noticed is that it is not enough to just have the best model. You have to be able to coordinate the model and be able to build a custom interface for the right application. And I think that’s the key,” he said.

The company told investors that it will benefit from AI in different ways.

During the call, Airbnb shared that his AI customer service agent in the US reduced the percentage of guests that contact with a human agent, for example, had 15%with 15%. This was actually more difficult than tackling the lower hanging fruit with regard to travel planning and inspiration, Chesky said, because AI agents who perform customer service do not hallucinate. They must be accurate and helpful at all times.

The customer service agent from Airbnb is built with 13 different models and trained on tens of thousands of conversations, and is currently available in English in the US this year, Airbnb will roll it out to more languages, and next year it will be more personalized and agent. That means it could understand if someone reaches to cancel a reservation; It could not only tell how to do this, but it could also do it for them. The agent can also help to plan and book travel.

Moreover, AI will look for Airbnb’s next year, the CEO said.

However, the company has not fully worked out its plans to work with AI agents from third parties, although it is considering. Users still need an Airbnb account to make a booking.

That is why Chesky does not think that Agentic AI would make his company a merchandise, the way in which booking of flights has become. Instead, he sees AI as “potentially interesting lead generation” for the company.

“I think the most important thing for us will be to lead and be the first place for people to travel at Airbnb. What we integrate or not with AI agents, I think we’re definitely open,” he said.

Airbnb defeated the expectations of analysts in the quarter with a turnover of $ 3.1 billion and a profit per share of $ 1.03, but the share drop About the prediction of slower growth in the second half of the year.