Airbnb has revealed that its custom-built AI agent is now managing about one-third of customer support inquiries in the United States and Canada, with plans to expand the system globally. The company expects that within a year, over 30% of all customer support interactions across its supported languages will be handled by AI-powered voice and chat systems, where human agents are also available. CEO Brian Chesky said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call that the AI initiative could significantly reduce operational costs while dramatically improving service quality. He suggested that the AI may outperform human agents in resolving certain types of issues, marking a major shift in how Airbnb delivers customer support. The rollout comes alongside the hiring of Ahmad Al-Dahle, a top AI expert recently recruited from Meta, where he led the team behind the Llama generative AI models. Chesky praised Al-Dahle’s deep experience at Apple and Meta, emphasizing his ability to combine technical scale with strong product design—key to Airbnb’s vision of building an AI-native experience. Under Al-Dahle’s leadership, Airbnb aims to create an app that goes beyond simple search. Instead, it will understand users deeply, helping guests plan entire trips, assist hosts in managing their businesses, and improve the company’s internal operations at scale. Chesky also defended Airbnb’s competitive edge against rising AI platforms, arguing that no chatbot can replicate the company’s unique assets. These include 200 million verified user identities, 500 million proprietary reviews, and the ability to directly message hosts—something 90% of guests currently do. He stressed that Airbnb is not just a marketplace but a full ecosystem with built-in trust, payment processing, and host protections, all developed over 18 years. He noted that while AI chatbots act like search tools by driving early-stage traffic, Airbnb’s traffic converts at a higher rate than Google’s, giving the company a strategic advantage. The company is already using AI in its search function, though it’s currently active for only a small portion of users, with plans to make search more conversational and eventually integrate sponsored listings. On internal AI adoption, Airbnb shared that 80% of its engineers are already using AI tools, with a goal to reach 100% soon—highlighting a broader company-wide shift toward AI integration. Airbnb reported fourth-quarter revenue of $2.78 billion, surpassing analyst expectations of $2.72 billion. For the current quarter, it forecast revenue between $2.59 billion and $2.63 billion, above the $2.53 billion estimate. The company projects revenue growth in the “low double digits” for the year, reflecting confidence in its AI-driven transformation.