In theory, an AI agent could book a vacation for you, but that doesn’t mean that’s happening much already.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said he’s not worried about artificial intelligence agents like Meta’s Muse or Instinct AI taking over traffic because the number of agent bookings so far has been low.
“We haven’t seen a lot of traffic from Muse and Instinct, and even less bookings,” Chesky said on Airbnb’s third-quarter earnings call Thursday.
The CEO said that of Airbnb’s nearly 500,000 daily bookings, a “very immaterial” number comes from Muse or Instinct. He added that traffic from agents peaked in early October and has not increased since.
“My whole philosophy about agents is that I’m generally excited about them. I don’t see them as a threat,” Chesky said. “I think they’re kind of like Google in giving more people the opportunity to discover Airbnb. I think they’re going to be a great handoff point for us.”
Airbnb beat Wall Street expectations, reporting a 19% year-over-year revenue increase in the quarter. The company said its revenue growth was its fastest in three years and that it was “back in growth mode.”
Personal assistant AI agents had a moment this summer, with Instinct’s invitation-only agents going viral in Silicon Valley, and around the same time Meta launched its own version called Muse. There are concerns that AI agents could be bad news for travel companies, many of which rely on direct bookings and customer loyalty.
General-purpose AI agents shouldn’t do everything, says Brian Chesky
Chesky said he believes general-purpose AI agents are not the best option for booking travel and that people will increasingly turn to specialized agents rather than using a single agent to do everything.
That’s why Airbnb plans to start rolling out its own artificial intelligence agents in the first half of next year, he said. The agency will be designed specifically for travel and will aim to provide guests with a customized experience.
“Today’s AI agents, like Muse and Instinct, are good at simple, everyday tasks, like making restaurant reservations or scheduling appointments. But planning a trip is a different story,” he said. “Travel is desirable. Exploring where to go and where to stay is part of the experience.”
Chesky said 80 percent of travelers say they enjoy the time they spend planning their trip and want to view photos, compare homes and make decisions with their travel companions.
This is evident in the way customers use Airbnb, he said, adding that 90% of them message hosts. Users typically view a dozen listings and often view 25 photos per listing, he said. He said most of Airbnb’s traffic also comes during work hours, which is between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
“These people should be working, but they’re not. We have evidence. People are actually using Airbnb secretly,” Chesky said. “Maybe they’re trying to get out of the job. But the idea is, it’s very aspirational, so I think a lot of people don’t want to leave it all to an agent.”
Executives at Booking.com and Expedia also said on earnings calls this week that AI agents have driven very little traffic so far. DoorDash CEO Tony Xu said last week that third-party agents had generated “hundreds of orders in total.”