Chesky says third-party AI agents currently drive negligible traffic and bookings, and he views them as opportunities rather than threats.
we're not seeing a lot of traffic in even fewer bookings from Muse and Instinct, yet. We do have nearly 0.5 million bookings a day and a very nonmaterial number of bookings happen on Muse and Instinct.
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Chesky says Airbnb has returned to growth mode, with its fastest revenue growth in over three years and acceleration even in its mature markets.
"Airbnb is back in growth mode," CEO Brian Chesky said in a release to investors. "It's rare for a marketplace of our size to reaccelerate growth, but that's exactly what we're doing. In Q3, we delivered our fastest revenue growth in more than three years, with acceleration across our business, including our most established markets."
Chesky notes North American nights booked grew at their fastest pace in four years, with more repeat and first-time guests.
"In North America, nights booked grew at their fastest pace in four years," Chesky said. "We're also seeing more guests return to Airbnb, and more people try it for the first time."
Chesky argues chatbots are the wrong interface for travel planning and says Airbnb is building a custom AI-native, generative-UI-like experience.
"Perhaps most importantly, we're building a new interface specifically for travel," Chesky said. "We don't think the traditional chatbot is the right way to plan travel. It's the wrong interface. So what we are doing is developing a custom-designed AI-native experience that responds to what guests are looking for … This is going to feel a little bit like generative UI in the sense that it's going to offer up the right interface at the right time for your specific travel needs."
Chesky believes specialization will win on complex tasks, and that specialized agents must be multiples better than general ones to overcome switching costs.
I think as they get really, really complicated, specialization is going to win. Now, the chat agent can hand over to a specialized agent, but a lot of people are going to go direct to the specialized agent
Chesky sees third-party AI agents as a discovery opportunity rather than a threat, noting bookings from them are currently immaterial.
My general philosophy on agents are, I'm generally excited about them. I don't see them as a threat. I see them kind of like Google as an opportunity for more people to discover Airbnb.