Airbnb says AI writes 60% of its code as revenue jumps 17% and stock surges 15%
11 Sources
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Airbnb says AI is helping it ship features faster as it tests a new search function
Airbnb might be taking slow steps to roll out AI features to its consumer-facing interface, but the company is rapidly adopting the tech to build product. Earlier this year, the company said AI is writing 60% of its code. In its latest earnings call, co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky said AI is
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Airbnb shares gain as investors cheer revenue forecast raise, AI payoff
Aug 7 (Reuters) - Airbnb (ABNB.O), opens new tab shares rose 9% in premarket trading on Friday as the vacation-rental firm's raised annual revenue forecast eased worries over the fallout on global travel demand from the conflict in the Middle East. As the war in Iran enters its sixth month, hotel
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Chesky says Airbnb will spend 'a lot more' on AI as earnings beat and stock surges 15%
The travel and booking company reported Q2 earnings that beat expectations and raised its full-year guidance. Airbnb shares surged 15% Friday after the company delivered one of its strongest growth quarters in years and raised its full-year outlook -- a turnaround CEO Brian Chesky is directly
[4]
Airbnb beats, raises its outlook, and credits AI
Airbnb beat expectations and raised its forecast for the second time this year. It handed most of the credit to one thing: artificial intelligence. The short-term rental company reported second-quarter results on Thursday, and the numbers were strong. Revenue rose 17% to $3.6bn. Net income was
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Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky says AI writes 60% of its code -- and sustaining 'founder mode' is the key to winning in the age of AI | Fortune
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has never left "founder mode." He prioritizes developing trust, attention to detail, and organization. And in the age of AI, he argues companies need to keep that mentality and move more like startups to succeed. "The winners of AI are going to be the companies that embrace
[6]
Airbnb shares surge 15% to four-year high on raised forecast, AI gains
Airbnb shares surged nearly 15% after the company raised its annual revenue growth forecast, citing resilient global travel demand and AI-driven efficiency. Better-than-expected quarterly revenue and lower customer-support costs reinforced investor confidence despite ongoing Middle East
[7]
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky Urges Silicon Valley to Build Consumer AI That Improves Lives - Airbnb (NASDAQ:AB
Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) CEO Brian Chesky says Silicon Valley needs to build more AI products for ordinary consumers if it wants to overcome growing skepticism toward the technology. Speaking with Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi on the "Power Players with Brian Sozzi" podcast, Chesky
[8]
Airbnb Says AI Is Driving Faster Growth, Higher Bookings and Better Margins | PYMNTS.com
The travel platform beat its own expectations on revenue, bookings and profitability while raising its full-year outlook, CEO Brian Chesky said on the Thursday evening (Aug. 6) call. He credited this growth to years of product improvements that are now accelerating with the help of artificial
[9]
Airbnb Stock Soars 17% as Brian Chesky Bets Big on AI - Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB)
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky Is Betting Bigger on AI After Admitting He 'Underestimated' Its Impact: 'Our Revenue Is Much Higher' On Friday, Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) CEO Brian Chesky said artificial intelligence is transforming the company's business, admitting he had previously "underestimated" its
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Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky says AI is super-charging company after he 'underestimated' tech
Airbnb stock shot up over 15% Friday after it notched one of its strongest growth quarters in years, with CEO Brian Chesky crediting AI - after fearing the tech could spell trouble for tech companies like his. He told CNBC that he'd spend "a lot more" on AI in 2026, raising Airbnb's full-year
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Airbnb Boosts Full-Year Forecast on Strong Demand as AI Bets Pay Off -- Update
Airbnb raised its forecast for the year, citing an expansion in global demand as it uses artificial intelligence to improve its platform. The short-term-rental company said Thursday it now expects revenue to increase by at least a mid-teens rate this year, up from its prior projection for growth
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Airbnb posted strong Q2 earnings with $3.6 billion in revenue, up 17% year-over-year, as CEO Brian Chesky credited artificial intelligence for transforming the company. AI now writes 60% of Airbnb's code and has cut product development time by 60%, while an AI-powered customer support bot resolves 45% of issues without human intervention, reducing support costs by 16%.
Airbnb Credits AI for Strong Q2 Performance
Airbnb delivered one of its strongest growth quarters in years, posting Q2 earnings that beat Wall Street expectations with revenue reaching $3.6 billion, up 17% year-over-year
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. Adjusted EBITDA jumped 21% to $1.3 billion, while net income climbed to $816 million, or $1.37 per share, compared to $1.03 a year earlier4
. The company's stock surged 15% following the announcement, with investors cheering both the results and raised revenue forecast3
. Gross booking value reached $27.2 billion as guests booked 148.3 million nights and seats, representing 10% growth4
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Source: Benzinga
CEO Brian Chesky declared that "AI is the best thing to ever happen to Airbnb" during the company's post-earnings call
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. This marks a dramatic shift from a year ago when the company was still questioning whether artificial intelligence would benefit or harm its business model3
. Airbnb raised its full-year outlook for the second time in 2026, now expecting revenue growth of at least mid-teens, up from its previous forecast of low to mid-teens2
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.AI Writes 60% of Code and Accelerates Product Development
Artificial intelligence now writes 60% of Airbnb's new code, fundamentally transforming how the company builds products
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. The AI-driven transformation has cut the time from concept to launch by as much as 60% across key initiatives1
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. Compared to the same six-month period last year, Airbnb increased the number of features and improvements it shipped by nearly 80%1
.Chesky told CNBC in an exclusive interview that the company will spend "a lot more" on AI tokens this year than originally forecast because inference costs "pale in comparison" to the revenue and productivity gains
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. The company is keeping headcount roughly flat even as AI spending rises sharply, with productivity gains spreading from engineers to product development, design, marketing, and creative services3
. AI integration has helped across critical areas including search, sign-up, checkout, and payments, with Chesky noting that reducing friction across the guest journey has become one of the biggest drivers of growth1
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Source: The Next Web
Customer Support Costs Drop 16% Through AI Automation
Airbnb's AI-powered customer support bot has delivered measurable cost efficiencies, with customer support costs per booking declining approximately 16% year-over-year
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. The company launched its AI agent in North America in 2025 and has since expanded it to more than 50 languages, with plans to make it available for voice calls later this year1
.Nearly 45% of customer issues that start with Airbnb's AI agent are completed without any human intervention
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. This automation has allowed the company to scale support while controlling costs, demonstrating how AI can deliver immediate return on investment in consumer-facing operations. Chesky emphasized that "it's really across the board: More demand, more supply, cheaper customer service"3
.Related Stories
Airbnb Tests AI-Powered Search with Natural Language Processing
Airbnb announced it will begin testing AI-powered search functionality that accepts natural language queries from users
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. The new conversational search feature will include a toggle allowing users to switch between traditional search filters and AI-driven results, acknowledging that many customers prefer the current interface1
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Source: PYMNTS
The AI search will present results in a visual format with conversational, AI-generated titles and personalized listing highlights created in real-time
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. Chesky noted the new search would be "hopefully less chatty" and warned it could take "months and months to retrain the customer"4
. The company is also building AI home comparisons and planning a voice assistant for phone support4
.Becoming an AI-Native Company Through Founder Mode Leadership
Chesky credits Airbnb's transformation to becoming an "AI-native company" as the number one explanation for its strong results
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. The company hired Ahmad Al-Dahle, Meta's former head of generative AI and a leader of its Llama work, as chief technology officer in January to accelerate this shift3
. Chesky said Airbnb had been "maybe middle of the pack in AI" before Al-Dahle arrived with a mandate to make the company AI-native3
.The CEO argues that maintaining founder mode rather than traditional manager mode is essential for winning in the age of AI. "The winners of AI are going to be the companies that embrace transformation," Chesky told CNBC, emphasizing the need for startup-like agility even at Fortune 500 scale
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. Airbnb uses more than a dozen AI models internally, including Anthropic's Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex, but Chesky is particularly bullish on open-source models for consumer-facing products3
. He noted that "consumers mostly do not need frontier models for most things" and emphasized the importance of matching the right tool to each task3
. Chesky is launching his own AI lab and predicts that within 18 months, Airbnb will be "very AI-native," with the future of vacation planning built on AI chatbot technology5
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