August 7, 2025
5 min read
Kelsey Vlamis
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky reveals plans to make Airbnb an AI-first app with agents that can personalize and book trips for users.
CEO Brian Chesky says Airbnb is going to become an AI-first app with agents that can book trips for you
Brian Chesky, cofounder and CEO of Airbnb, shared his vision for the travel app's AI-powered future during the company's second-quarter earnings call on August 7, 2025. Airbnb is undergoing a transformation to become an AI-first application, Chesky said, predicting that soon all popular apps will be AI apps — either startups built around AI or existing apps that successfully evolve into "native AI" apps. Unlike some travel companies that focus AI on travel planning and inspiration, Airbnb has initially deployed AI in customer service. The company built a custom AI agent powered by 13 different models and trained on tens of thousands of conversations. This chatbot has reduced the need for human agent intervention by 15% for both hosts and guests. Chesky explained that over the next year, Airbnb's AI agent will become more personalized and capable of taking more actions on behalf of users. "It will not only tell you how to cancel your reservation, it will know which reservation you want to cancel. It can cancel it for you and it can be agentic as in it can start to search and help you plan and book your next trip," he said. This vision aligns with Airbnb's broader ambition to be the "everything app" for travel — a one-stop shop where users can book accommodations, experiences, and services, with the app handling the booking process for them. Earlier in 2025, Airbnb relaunched its Experiences business and introduced Services, allowing users to book on-site professionals like photographers or massage therapists. Chesky expressed optimism about the positive feedback on Experiences. In February 2025, Chesky had noted it was still early to use AI for trip planning but anticipated AI would eventually have a profound impact on travel. He also expressed a desire to make Airbnb the "Amazon of travel," catering to all traveling and living needs. Airbnb beat revenue expectations in Q2 2025 and announced a $6 billion stock buyback but forecasted slower growth in Q3, which led to a more than 6% drop in after-hours stock trading. Airbnb declined to provide additional comments when reached by Business Insider.Source: Originally published at Business Insider on August 7, 2025.