Airbnb launched a new AI-powered search feature in its recent update, marking a shift for a company historically cautious about artificial intelligence. Co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky has previously argued that a chatbot-only interface is unsuitable for travel discovery. With further AI features arriving in the Airbnb app, I spoke with Chesky via Zoom to discuss the company’s approach, the future of interfaces, the limitations of current consumer AI, and the role of voice.
Chatbots are not the endgame
Chesky maintains that chatbots are poor tools for browsing or shopping because they present only a few options at once. Users must take multiple turns to reach a result. He does not view the current version of Airbnb’s search as the final form, noting the interface will evolve.
“I think that I’ve believed for a long time that a chatbot isn’t the right interface for e-commerce,” Chesky said. “I think what you’re seeing today is also not the endgame for e-commerce or for travel or shopping. I think that there’s going to be some interface that is, you know, I don’t want to call it a midpoint, but something between a chatbot and what you see in the first version we shipped.”
He added that many people want speed and ease, such as booking a flight without viewing details. However, travel studies show people derive more pleasure from planning and anticipating a trip than from the travel itself. Removing the inspiration, browsing, and library experience of dreaming takes something away from the process.
Multiplayer AI is next
Chesky identifies a second problem with chatbots: they are built for one person. They lack the collaborative nature required for a product often used by families and friends. Over the next three to six months, the company will explore interfaces that enable “multiplayer” AI. This allows several people, such as a group planning a trip together, to use the system at once.
Other companies are also reconsidering AI interfaces. Startups like Monogram and Wabi are experimenting with “generative” interfaces. These are screens an AI builds on the fly rather than ones a designer fixed in advance. Chesky expects people will see a mix of deterministic (pre-designed and predictable) and generative interfaces.
Agents need a better foundation
I asked Chesky how Airbnb is preparing for consumer AI agents, such as Instinct and Muse, which carry out tasks on a person’s behalf. Agents require robust software infrastructure on Airbnb’s end, and the company wants to make itself more agent-friendly. He believes they could serve as good lead generators.
“I don’t necessarily know if I believe in a world that there’s apps in the future,” he said. “But I don’t believe in a world where the apps become data layers of a universal simple UI because when you open your iPhone, there is a reason Airbnb’s app is a different design than DoorDash, Shopify, and Amazon. Our interfaces should be adaptive to the utility and the function that we’re doing. We want to make our app more agentic, and we want to build a lot more user interface controls.”
He explained that if a user has an agent but wants great browse functionality, the ability to message a host like on Airbnb, compare options, verify identity, or use a map feature, the agent must either hand off control or build a more robust software developer kit to bring the app to the user.
Chesky noted concerns that AI tools might cut companies like Airbnb out of the customer relationship. He said chatbots have proven good at lead generation.
Interoperability through agents
The CEO is planning for agent-to-agent interactions through the platform. There may be interactions within the platform and some with agents from other apps. His thesis is that apps have not always been interoperable unless companies struck a business deal. Agents, however, are like “apps with faces.” When they talk to each other, all apps can become interoperable.
“I think of the Airbnb app as one day becoming an agent,” Chesky noted. “You know, where basically the explore tab has an agent, our customer service has an agent, we’re developing another agent in another service area. Probably eventually there’s going to be a macro Airbnb agent. And that will probably be interoperable with MCP [a standard that lets AI agents connect with other software] to other agents.”
The industry lacks an AI operating system
Chesky argues the bigger problem is that the industry lacks a true operating system built for AI. Currently, people build AI apps for iOS, macOS, and Windows that are not “AI operating systems.” In an ideal world, AI would be operable at the kernel level, the core of an operating system, where all components like agents interact with each other.
Right now, the race is to be the “quarterback,” or primary AI agent that users go through for everything. The problem with this model is no one is developing a full operating system software developer kit.
“ChatGPT, at the beginning of last year, tried to do their little app store,” he continued. “And I told Sam [Altman]: if you want to be an app store like the iPhone, you need to have a software developer kit and an operating system like the App Store. Otherwise, none of our functionality is going to exist. And of course, it didn’t work very well.”
He noted that using Airbnb on Muse and Instinct does not work very well. Even hotels do not work that well, but Airbnbs work even worse. He does not think the industry has cracked consumer AI. For consumer AI to be cracked, the industry must crack at a lower substrate. Agents must become apps, all apps must become agents, all must be interoperable, and all must have much richer user interfaces.
Design and voice matter
Chesky thinks there are two misconceptions in Silicon Valley. First, that the interface is going away and people will just talk and type. Second, that software will be completely generative. His argument is that a designer can prompt better software than a consumer can.
He also believes that as long as the iPhone remains dominant and Apple and Google control the major platforms, apps will likely remain a central fixture.
“It’s really up to Apple or Google, or somebody, to build a new platform for us to really make the true shift from apps to agents,” he said. “Otherwise, we’re going to have apps that have agents inside them, rather than the whole app being a robust agent that’s interoperable with other agents.”
Before we wrapped up, I asked Chesky about voice. Apps like Wispr Flow, Willow, and Superwhisper, a new wave of note-taking apps, and built-in dictation in AI tools are getting people talking to their devices more. He thinks people will eventually speak to computers more than they type. Voice will play a key part for Airbnb in search and customer service. The company plans to roll out voice agents this fall to help users.
The company has seen big gains from using AI to ship features faster. On a personal level, Chesky said AI has helped him get information faster, freeing him from so many meetings.
“I think AI is reducing communication layers,” he said. “One of my jobs as CEO is try to get information. And the way I used to get information was having meetings. Now, I can just ask my AI and I don’t need to have as many.”
